Quality of experience measurements for mobility robustness

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A communication link between the UE and a serving base station may be established. The UE may measure, at an application layer of the UE, a set of quality of experience variables associated with different service types. The UE may measure, at an access stratum of the UE, a set of radio resource management variables associated with the communication link between the UE and the serving base station and a communication link between the UE and a corresponding set of one or more neighboring base stations associated with the communication links. The UE may transmit a measurement report to the serving base station indicating information associated with the quality of experience variables and the radio resource management variables in a multi-layer readable format.

CROSS REFERENCE

The present application for patent claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 63/059,150 by KUMAR et al., entitled“QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE MEASUREMENTS FOR MOBILITY ROBUSTNESS,” filed Jul.30, 2020, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The following relates to wireless communications, including quality ofexperience measurements for mobility robustness.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such asLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, orLTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employtechnologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA),orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discreteFourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system mayinclude one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes,each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communicationdevices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,and apparatuses that support quality of experience (QoE) measurementsfor mobility robustness. Generally, the described techniques provide fora user equipment (UE) to convert, at least to some degree, QoE variables(e.g., measurements of one or more QoE variables) at a layer, such asthe application layer, into a format that is readable by a second layer,such as a access stratum of the UE and/or radio access network (RAN)layer of a base station. In some aspects, the UE may obtain a genericQoE score based on the application layer QoE measurement or identify asubset of the application layer QoE measurement for RAN optimization,send these QoE variables to the access stratum of the UE, thereafter theaccess stratum may transmit it to the RAN of a base station. The UE mayhave an active communication link established with the UE's serving basestation. The UE may measure, observe, or otherwise identify a set of RANaware QoE variables, for example, at the application layer of the UE.The UE may also measure, observe, or otherwise identify a set of radioresource management (RRM) variables, for example, at the access stratumof the UE, e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), referencesignal strength indicator (RSSI, channel state information (CSI), etc.The RRM variables may relate to the communication link between the UEand its serving base station as well as or alternatively forcommunication link(s) between the UE and target base station(s) of theUE (e.g., neighboring base stations that may be able to support wirelesscommunication link(s) with the UE). The UE may transmit or otherwiseprovide a measurement report to its serving base station indicatinginformation associated with a set of QoE variables (RAN aware QoE) inaddition to the set of RRM variables. In some aspects, the UE maytransmit the measurement report in a multi-layer readable format, e.g.,in a format readable by the application layer and the access stratum ofthe UE, among other examples. For example, the UE may convert the QoEvariables into a format readable by the access stratum and transfer theconverted QoE variables or generic metrics to the access stratum. Inanother example, the UE may generate a summary of the QoE variables,package the summary in a transparent container, and provide theindication of the summary of the QoE variables to the access stratum(e.g., package the summary of the QoE variables in a format readable bythe access stratum of the UE and/or a base station) via the transparentcontainer.

In some aspects, the UE or serving base station or both may update orotherwise adjust the communication link (e.g., the active communicationlink) based on the set of RRM variables and/or the set of QoE variablesor generic QoE metrics. As one example when the communication link isperforming at an acceptable level (e.g., various parameters are within athreshold), this may include adjusting or otherwise updating variouscommunication parameters used for the communication link (e.g.,adjusting a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), adjusting a bandwidthfor the communication link, or the like) based on the set of RRMvariables and/or set of QoE variables or generic QoE metrics. As anotherexample when the communication link is performing at an unacceptablelevel (e.g., various parameters meet or exceed a threshold), this mayinclude performing a handover procedure of the UE from the serving basestation to a target base station in order for the UE to establish a newcommunication link with the target base station. For example, themeasurement report may include the RRM variables for neighboring basestation(s) together with the set of QoE variable or generic QoE metricsthat may be able to establish the new communication link with the UE.

In this handover example, the serving base station may transmit aresource status request to the target base station(s) indicated in themeasurement report. The resource status request may carry or otherwiseconvey an indication of a QoE constraint of the UE (e.g., the requestedQoE level or threshold expected by the UE) and the set of QoE variablesor generic QoE metrics of the UE. The target base station(s) may eachdetermine whether their respective capability to satisfy the desiredconstraint of the UE and, if so, transmit a resource status response tothe serving base station indicating the ability to support the QoEconstraint of the UE. In some aspects, each resource status response mayindicate the its capability to satisfy the desired QoE of the sendingtarget base station (e.g., indicate the QoE level that the target basestation can support). The serving base station may select the targetbase station to perform the handover procedure of the UE to based on theresource status response(s) received from the target base station(s),e.g., based on the QoE variables/RRM variables of the UE and/or eachtarget base station capability to satisfy the UE QoE constraints, wherethe target base station may be capable of providing a relatively better(e.g., a best) QoE level to the UE. Accordingly, the serving basestation may perform a handover request/response exchange with the targetbase station to initiate a handover procedure of the UE to the targetbase station to establish the new communication link. Accordingly, thedescribed techniques permit the QoE variables identified at theapplication layer of the UE to be provided in a format readable by theRAN, which may utilize the QoE variables of the UE in conjunction withthe RRM variables for communication link optimization and/or mobility,among other benefits.

A method for wireless communication at a UE is described. The method mayinclude establishing a communication link between the UE and a servingbase station, measuring, at an application layer of the UE, a set of QoEvariables associated with different service types, measuring, at anaccess stratum of the UE, a set of RRM variables associated with thecommunication link between the UE and the serving base station and acommunication link between the UE and a corresponding set of one or moreneighboring base stations associated with the communication links, andtransmitting a measurement report to the serving base station indicatinginformation associated with the QoE variables and the RRM variables in amulti-layer readable format.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor,and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may beexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to establish acommunication link between the UE and a serving base station, measure,at an application layer of the UE, a set of QoE variables associatedwith different service types, measure, at an access stratum of the UE, aset of RRM variables associated with the communication link between theUE and the serving base station and a communication link between the UEand a corresponding set of one or more neighboring base stationsassociated with the communication links, and transmit a measurementreport to the serving base station indicating information associatedwith the QoE variables and the RRM variables in a multi-layer readableformat.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include means for establishing a communication linkbetween the UE and a serving base station, means for measuring, at anapplication layer of the UE, a set of QoE variables associated withdifferent service types, means for measuring, at an access stratum ofthe UE, a set of RRM variables associated with the communication linkbetween the UE and the serving base station and a communication linkbetween the UE and a corresponding set of one or more neighboring basestations associated with the communication links, and means fortransmitting a measurement report to the serving base station indicatinginformation associated with the QoE variables and the RRM variables in amulti-layer readable format.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a UE is described. The code may include instructionsexecutable by a processor to establish a communication link between theUE and a serving base station, measure, at an application layer of theUE, a set of QoE variables associated with different service types,measure, at an access stratum of the UE, a set of RRM variablesassociated with the communication link between the UE and the servingbase station and a communication link between the UE and a correspondingset of one or more neighboring base stations associated with thecommunication links, and transmit a measurement report to the servingbase station indicating information associated with the QoE variablesand the RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transferring, from theapplication layer of the UE to the access stratum of the UE, the set ofQoE variables in a format readable by the RAN, where transmitting themeasurement report includes transmitting, from the access stratum of theUE, the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables to the servingbase station.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for generating a summary ofthe set of QoE variables or a generic score of an overall satisfactionlevel to obtain a summary QoE report, configuring, at the applicationlayer of the UE, the measurement report to indicate the summary QoEreport and the set of RRM variables in a format readable by the accessstratum of the UE and the serving base station, where transmitting themeasurement report includes, and transmitting, from the access stratumof the UE, the summary QoE report and the set of RRM variables to theserving base station in the measurement report.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a UEcapability message indicating support for generating a RAN aware summaryQoE report.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a measurementrequest from the base station indicating the QoE variables to include inthe set of QoE variables, where identifying the set of QoE variables maybe based on the measurement request, where the measurement report may betransmitted based on the measurement request.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for adjusting, in responseto the measurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, adjusting the communicationlink may include operations, features, means, or instructions forperforming, based on the set of QoE variables, a handover procedure ofthe UE from the serving base station to establish a new communicationlink with a target base station from the set of target base stations.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining that theset of QoE variables fail to satisfy a threshold, where transmitting themeasurement report may be based on the determining and receiving, basedon transmitting the measurement report, a connection reconfigurationmessage identifying the target base station to perform the handoverprocedure to establish the new communication link.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, adjusting the communicationlink may include operations, features, means, or instructions foradjusting one or more communication parameters configured for thecommunication link between the UE and the serving base station and oneor more handover parameters for a handover procedure of the UE from theserving base station to establish a new communication link with a targetbase station from the set of one or more target base stations.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying at least aportion of the QoE variables, at the access stratum of the UE, where theset of QoE variables indicated in the measurement report may be based onthe portion of the QoE variables.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, at theaccess stratum of the UE, a summary QoE report based on the set of QoEvariables, where the set of QoE variables indicated in the measurementreport includes the summary QoE report.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the QoE variables in the setof QoE variables include one or more of a cell identifier of the servingbase station, or a service type for a service being communicated overthe communication link, or an average application layer throughput rate,or an average application layer round-trip-time measurement, or anaverage application layer jitter, or an average application layer packetdrop rate, or a failure rate of the application layer throughput rate,or a failure rate of the application layer round-trip-time variable, ora failure rate of the application layer jitter, or a failure rate of theapplication layer packet drop rate.

A method for wireless communication at a serving base station isdescribed. The method may include establishing a communication link witha UE, receiving a measurement report from the UE indicating informationassociated with a set of QoE variables and a set of RRM variables in amulti-layer readable format, and adjusting, in response to themeasurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a serving base station isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled withthe processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructionsmay be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to establish acommunication link with a UE, receive a measurement report from the UEindicating information associated with a set of QoE variables and a setof RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format, and adjust, inresponse to the measurement report, the communication link between theUE and the serving base station.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a serving base stationis described. The apparatus may include means for establishing acommunication link with a UE, means for receiving a measurement reportfrom the UE indicating information associated with a set of QoEvariables and a set of RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format,and means for adjusting, in response to the measurement report, thecommunication link between the UE and the serving base station.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a serving base station is described. The code mayinclude instructions executable by a processor to establish acommunication link with a UE, receive a measurement report from the UEindicating information associated with a set of QoE variables and a setof RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format, and adjust, inresponse to the measurement report, the communication link between theUE and the serving base station.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting ameasurement request to the UE indicating the QoE variables to include inthe set of QoE variables, where the measurement report indicating theset of QoE variables may be received in response to the measurementrequest.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, adjusting the communicationlink may include operations, features, means, or instructions forperforming, based on the set of QoE variables, a handover procedure ofthe UE from the serving base station to a target base station for the UEto establish a new communication link with the target base station.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining that theset of QoE variables fail to satisfy a threshold, transmitting aresource status request to a set of target base stations including thetarget base station indicated in the measurement report, the resourcestatus request indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and the set of QoEvariables of the UE, receiving a resource status response from thetarget base station indicating support of the QoE constraint of the UE,and transmitting, based on the resource status response, a connectionreconfiguration message to the UE identifying the target base station toperform the handover procedure to establish the new communication link.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving multipleresource status responses from at least a portion of respective targetbase stations of the set of one or more target base stations, eachresource status response indicating a respective ability of the targetbase station in satisfying the UE quality of service constraints,selecting a subset of available target base stations from the portion ofthe respective target base stations of the set of one or more targetbase stations based on the ability in satisfying the QoE constraint ofthe UE, and selecting the target base station from the subset ofavailable base stations based on the ability to satisfy the QoEconstraints of the target base station and one or more RRM variables ofthe UE for the target base station.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a handoverrequest to the target base station based on selecting the target basestation, the handover request indicating that the handover procedure ofthe UE may be to be performed to the target base station and receiving ahandover response from the target base station, where the handoverprocedure of the UE may be performed with the target base station basedon the handover response.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, adjusting the connection mayinclude operations, features, means, or instructions for adjusting oneor more communication parameters configured for the communication linkbetween the UE and the serving base station.

A method for wireless communication at a target base station isdescribed. The method may include receiving a resource status requestfrom a serving base station of a UE, the resource status requestindicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variables of theUE, determining, based on the set of QoE variables, whether the UE QoEconstraints can be satisfied at the target base station, andtransmitting a resource status response to the serving base stationindicating an ability to support the QoE constraint of the UE.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a target base station isdescribed. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled withthe processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructionsmay be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive aresource status request from a serving base station of a UE, theresource status request indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a setof QoE variables of the UE, determine, based on the set of QoEvariables, whether the UE QoE constraints can be satisfied at the targetbase station, and transmit a resource status response to the servingbase station indicating an ability to support the QoE constraint of theUE.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a target base station isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for receiving a resourcestatus request from a serving base station of a UE, the resource statusrequest indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variablesof the UE, means for determining, based on the set of QoE variables,whether the UE QoE constraints can be satisfied at the target basestation, and means for transmitting a resource status response to theserving base station indicating an ability to support the QoE constraintof the UE.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a target base station is described. The code mayinclude instructions executable by a processor to receive a resourcestatus request from a serving base station of a UE, the resource statusrequest indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variablesof the UE, determine, based on the set of QoE variables, whether the UEQoE constraints can be satisfied at the target base station, andtransmit a resource status response to the serving base stationindicating an ability to support the QoE constraint of the UE.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for determining the abilityof the target base station in satisfying the UE quality of serviceconstraints.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a handoverrequest from the serving base station based on the resource statusresponse indicating support for the QoE requirement of the UE.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a handoverresponse to the serving base station, where the handover procedure ofthe UE may be performed with the target base station based on thehandover response.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationsthat supports quality of experience (QoE) measurements for mobilityrobustness in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show block diagrams of devices that support QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsQoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show block diagrams of devices that support QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsQoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 17 through 22 show flowcharts illustrating methods that supportQoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some wireless communications systems may support quality of experience(QoE) variables being measured or otherwise determined, for example, atan application layer of a user equipment (UE). Such QoE variables mayinclude, but are not limited to, an observed throughput rate at theapplication layer averaged over a time period, a jitter rate, packetdrop rate, etc. and may be observed, for example, at the applicationlayer and may be determined and averaged over a duration, or the like.The QoE variables may be exchanged between the peer entities, forexample, between the application layer level and the access stratum ofthe UE and used to adjust parameters, for example, application layerparameters for improved user experience (e.g., to optimize the observedQoE variables). For example, the data corresponding to the QoE variablesmay be packetized into a packet format by the application layer and thenprovided to the access stratum of the UE for transmission. Broadly, theaccess stratum of the UE may include one or more sublayers that receiveor otherwise obtain the packets from the application layer, performvarious processes on the packets (e.g., sequence number addition forpacket tracking/assembly, header(s) addition, ciphering, integrityprotection, encoding, mapping to logical channels, etc.) before beingprovided to a physical layer (e.g., the lowest sublayer of the accessstratum) for modulation and transmission over time, frequency, spatial,etc., physical resources of the communication link. In other differenttechniques, the packets provided to the access stratum for transmissionare opaque from the perspective of the access stratum (e.g., the databeing conveyed in the packets is not in a format that the sublayers ofthe access stratum can read as the packet passes through each sublayer),which includes the QoE variables identified at the application layer.Accordingly, such wireless communications systems and related otherdifferent techniques do not provide a mechanism where the access stratumof the UE can consider the QoE variables for communication linkoptimizations and/or handover.

Aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the contextof wireless communications systems. Generally, the described techniquesprovide for a UE to convert, at least to some degree, QoE variables(e.g., measurements of the QoE variables) at, for example, theapplication layer into a format that is readable by a second layer, forexample, an access stratum of the UE. The application layer of the UEmay obtain RAN aware QoE variables (a subset of QoE variables or genericQoE metrics) and provide it to the access stratum of the UE. The UE mayhave an active communication link established with its serving basestation. The UE may measure, observe, or otherwise identify a set of QoEvariables as the RAN aware QoE metric or obtain a set of genericmetrics, for example, at the application layer of the UE. The UE mayalso measure, observe, or otherwise identify a set of radio resourcemanagement (RRM) variables at, for example, an access stratum of the UE,e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal strengthindicator (RSSI, channel state information (CSI), etc. The RRM variablesmay be for the communication link between the UE and its serving basestation as well as communication link(s) between the UE and target basestation(s) of the UE (e.g., neighboring base stations that may be ableto support wireless communication link(s) with the UE). The UE maytransmit or otherwise provide a measurement report to its serving basestation indicating information associated with the set of QoE variablesin addition to the set up RRM variables. In some aspects, the UE maytransmit the measurement report in a multi-layer readable format, e.g.,in a format readable by the application layer and the access stratum ofthe UE and RAN. For example, the UE may convert the QoE variables into aformat readable by the access stratum and transfer the converted QoEvariables to the access stratum. In another example, the UE may generatea summary of the QoE variables, package the summary in a transparentcontainer, and provide the indication of the summary of the QoEvariables to the access stratum (e.g., package the summary of the QoEvariables in a format readable by the access stratum of the UE) via thetransparent container.

In some aspects, the UE and/or serving base station may update orotherwise adjust the communication link (e.g., the active communicationlink) based on the set of RRM variables and/or the set of QoE variables.As one example when the communication link is performing at anacceptable level (e.g., various parameters are within a threshold), thismay include adjusting or otherwise updating various communicationparameters used for the communication link (e.g., adjusting a modulationand coding scheme (MCS), adjusting a bandwidth for the communicationlink, or the like) based on the set of RRM variables and/or set of QoEvariables. As another example when the communication link is performingat an unacceptable level (e.g., various parameters meet or exceed athreshold), this may include performing a handover procedure of the UEfrom the serving base station to a target base station in order for theUE to establish a new communication link with the target base station.For example, the measurement report may indicate RRM variables fortarget base station(s) and QoE variables that may be able to establishthe new communication link with the UE.

In this handover example, the serving base station may transmit aresource status request to the target base station(s) indicated in themeasurement report. The resource status request may carry or otherwiseconvey an indication of the QoE constraint of the UE (e.g., therequested QoE level of the UE) and the set of QoE variables of the UE.The target base station(s) may each determine whether their respectivecapability to satisfy the QoE constraint of the UE and, if so, transmita resource status response to the serving base station indicating theability to support the QoE constraint of the UE. In some aspects, eachresource status response may indicate its capability to satisfy the UEQoE constraints of the sending target base station (e.g., indicate theQoE level that the target base station can support). The serving basestation may select the target base station(s) to perform the handoverprocedure of the UE to based on the resource status response(s) receivedfrom the target base station(s), e.g., based on the QoE variables/RRMvariables of the UE and each target base station capability to satisfythe UE QoE constraints, where the target base station is capable ofproviding the best QoE level to the UE. Accordingly, the serving basestation may perform a handover request/response exchange with the targetbase station(s) to initiate a handover procedure of the UE to the targetbase station(s) to establish the new communication link. Accordingly,the described techniques permit the QoE variables identified at theapplication layer of the UE to be provided in a format readable by theRAN, which may utilize the QoE variables of the UE in conjunction withthe RRM variables for communication link optimization and/or mobility.

Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described withreference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts thatrelate to QoE measurements for mobility robustness.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communicationssystem 100 may include one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, anLTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a New Radio (NR)network. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 maysupport enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., missioncritical) communications, low latency communications, communicationswith low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof.

The base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area toform the wireless communications system 100 and may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. The base stations 105and the UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via one or more communicationlinks 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 overwhich the UEs 115 and the base station 105 may establish one or morecommunication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of ageographic area over which a base station 105 and a UE 115 may supportthe communication of signals according to one or more radio accesstechnologies.

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of thewireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary,or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115are illustrated in FIG. 1 . The UEs 115 described herein may be able tocommunicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, thebase stations 105, or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relaydevices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other networkequipment), as shown in FIG. 1 .

The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or withone another, or both. For example, the base stations 105 may interfacewith the core network 130 through one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g.,via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations 105 maycommunicate with one another over the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via anX2, Xn, or other interface) either directly (e.g., directly between basestations 105), or indirectly (e.g., via core network 130), or both. Insome examples, the backhaul links 120 may be or include one or morewireless links.

One or more of the base stations 105 described herein may include or maybe referred to by a person having ordinary skill in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB or agiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, awireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriberdevice, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may alsobe referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, amongother examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as apersonal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personalcomputer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as awireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device,an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications(MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in variousobjects such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, among other examples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with varioustypes of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relaysas well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment includingmacro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations,among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1 .

The UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate withone another via one or more communication links 125 over one or morecarriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequencyspectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure forsupporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used fora communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operated accordingto one or more physical layer channels for a given radio accesstechnology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layerchannel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals,system information), control signaling that coordinates operation forthe carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communicationssystem 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrieraggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured withmultiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink componentcarriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrieraggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) andtime division duplexing (TDD) component carriers.

In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), acarrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling thatcoordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associatedwith a frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobiletelecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absoluteradio frequency channel number (EARFCN)) and may be positioned accordingto a channel raster for discovery by the UEs 115. A carrier may beoperated in a standalone mode where initial acquisition and connectionmay be conducted by the UEs 115 via the carrier, or the carrier may beoperated in a non-standalone mode where a connection is anchored using adifferent carrier (e.g., of the same or a different radio accesstechnology).

The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communications system100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station105, or downlink transmissions from a base station 105 to a UE 115.Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDDmode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications(e.g., in a TDD mode).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radiofrequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may bereferred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be oneof a number of determined bandwidths for carriers of a particular radioaccess technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz(MHz)). Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., thebase stations 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardwareconfigurations that support communications over a particular carrierbandwidth or may be configurable to support communications over one of aset of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communicationssystem 100 may include base stations 105 or UEs 115 that supportsimultaneous communications via carriers associated with multiplecarrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may beconfigured for operating over portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or allof a carrier bandwidth.

Signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiplesubcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques suchas orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fouriertransform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCMtechniques, a resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., aduration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbolperiod and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bitscarried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme(e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of themodulation scheme, or both). Thus, the more resource elements that a UE115 receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, thehigher the data rate may be for the UE 115. A wireless communicationsresource may refer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrumresource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layersor beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increasethe data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, where anumerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. Acarrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same ordifferent numerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configuredwith multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may beactive at a given time and communications for the UE 115 may berestricted to one or more active BWPs.

The time intervals for the base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may beexpressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example,refer to a sampling period of T_(s)=1/(Δf_(max)·N_(f)) seconds, whereΔf_(max) may represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, andN_(f) may represent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform(DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organizedaccording to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system framenumber (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes orslots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In someexamples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) intosubframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a number ofslots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of slots,and the number of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot mayinclude a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of thecyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wirelesscommunications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiplemini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix,each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N_(f)) samplingperiods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrierspacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallestscheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wirelesscommunications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission timeinterval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number ofsymbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively,the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more oftime division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A controlregion (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical controlchannel may be defined by a number of symbol periods and may extendacross the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of thecarrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configuredfor a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 maymonitor or search control regions for control information according toone or more search space sets, and each search space set may include oneor multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levelsarranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a controlchannel candidate may refer to a number of control channel resources(e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with encodedinformation for a control information format having a given payloadsize. Search space sets may include common search space sets configuredfor sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specificsearch space sets for sending control information to a specific UE 115.

Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage via one or morecells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or othertypes of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer toa logical communication entity used for communication with a basestation 105 (e.g., over a carrier) and may be associated with anidentifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cellidentifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or others). In someexamples, a cell may also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or aportion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over whichthe logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range fromsmaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areasdepending on various factors such as the capabilities of the basestation 105. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subsetof a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with geographiccoverage areas 110, among other examples.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by theUEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supportingthe macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered basestation 105, as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operatein the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands asmacro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115with service subscriptions with the network provider or may providerestricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the smallcell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), the UEs 115associated with users in a home or office). A base station 105 maysupport one or multiple cells and may also support communications overthe one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.

In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and differentcells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g.,MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that mayprovide access for different types of devices.

In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and thereforeprovide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may overlap, but the differentgeographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station105. In other examples, the overlapping geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may be supported by differentbase stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include,for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of thebase stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different basestations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronousoperation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timings, andtransmissions from different base stations 105 may, in some examples,not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used foreither synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay such information to acentral server or application program that makes use of the informationor presents the information to humans interacting with the applicationprogram. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enableautomated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode thatsupports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but nottransmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples,half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate.Other power conservation techniques for the UEs 115 include entering apower saving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications,operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowbandcommunications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, someUEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set ofsubcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within aguard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to supportultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or variouscombinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latencycommunications (URLLC) or mission critical communications. The UEs 115may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or criticalfunctions (e.g., mission critical functions). Ultra-reliablecommunications may include private communication or group communicationand may be supported by one or more mission critical services such asmission critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission critical video (MCVideo),or mission critical data (MCData). Support for mission criticalfunctions may include prioritization of services, and mission criticalservices may be used for public safety or general commercialapplications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission critical,and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135(e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outsidethe geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or be otherwiseunable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In someexamples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications mayutilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits toevery other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, a base station 105facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In othercases, D2D communications are carried out between the UEs 115 withoutthe involvement of a base station 105.

In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 may be an example of acommunication channel, such as a sidelink communication channel, betweenvehicles (e.g., UEs 115). In some examples, vehicles may communicateusing vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) communications, or some combination of these. A vehicle may signalinformation related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather,safety, emergencies, or any other information relevant to a V2X system.In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system may communicate with roadsideinfrastructure, such as roadside units, or with the network via one ormore network nodes (e.g., base stations 105) using vehicle-to-network(V2N) communications, or with both.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which may include at leastone control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., amobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility managementfunction (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packetsor interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), aPacket Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function(UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS)functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management forthe UEs 115 served by the base stations 105 associated with the corenetwork 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user planeentity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as otherfunctions. The user plane entity may be connected to the networkoperators IP services 150. The network operators IP services 150 mayinclude access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem(IMS), or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

Some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, may includesubcomponents such as an access network entity 140, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity140 may communicate with the UEs 115 through one or more other accessnetwork transmission entities 145, which may be referred to as radioheads, smart radio heads, or transmission/reception points (TRPs). Eachaccess network transmission entity 145 may include one or more antennapanels. In some configurations, various functions of each access networkentity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various networkdevices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a singlenetwork device (e.g., a base station 105).

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. The UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features, but the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 locatedindoors. The transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared totransmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the highfrequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrumbelow 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super highfrequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, alsoknown as the centimeter band, or in an extremely high frequency (EHF)region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as themillimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communications system100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UEs 115and the base stations 105, and EHF antennas of the respective devicesmay be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In someexamples, this may facilitate use of antenna arrays within a device. Thepropagation of EHF transmissions, however, may be subject to evengreater atmospheric attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHFtransmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed acrosstransmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, anddesignated use of bands across these frequency regions may differ bycountry or regulating body.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed andunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA),LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in anunlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands,devices such as the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carriersensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples,operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregationconfiguration in conjunction with component carriers operating in alicensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may includedownlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2Dtransmissions, among other examples.

A base station 105 or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas,which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity,receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications,or beamforming. The antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which maysupport MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example,one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located atan antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples,antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may belocated in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105 may have anantenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports thatthe base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communicationswith a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arraysthat may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally oralternatively, an antenna panel may support radio frequency beamformingfor a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

The base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may use MIMO communications toexploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectralefficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via differentspatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatialmultiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted bythe transmitting device via different antennas or different combinationsof antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by thereceiving device via different antennas or different combinations ofantennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separatespatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream(e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., differentcodewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with differentantenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMOtechniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), where multiple spatiallayers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-userMIMO (MU-MIMO), where multiple spatial layers are transmitted tomultiple devices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115) to shape or steeran antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatialpath between the transmitting device and the receiving device.Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated viaantenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagatingat particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antennaelements may include a transmitting device or a receiving deviceapplying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carriedvia the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustmentsassociated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by abeamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g.,with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device orreceiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

A base station 105 or a UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as partof beam forming operations. For example, a base station 105 may usemultiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conductbeamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115.Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beamselection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by abase station 105 multiple times in different directions. For example,the base station 105 may transmit a signal according to differentbeamforming weight sets associated with different directions oftransmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used toidentify (e.g., by a transmitting device, such as a base station 105, orby a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for latertransmission or reception by the base station 105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particularreceiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a singlebeam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device,such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated withtransmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on asignal that was transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example,a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the basestation 105 in different directions and may report to the base station105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highestsignal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality.

In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a base station 105or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and thedevice may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequencybeamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from abase station 105 to a UE 115). The UE 115 may report feedback thatindicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and thefeedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across a systembandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The base station 105 may transmit areference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), achannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may beprecoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beamselection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) orcodebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linearcombination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Althoughthese techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted inone or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employsimilar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in differentdirections (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequenttransmission or reception by the UE 115) or for transmitting a signal ina single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device).

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115) may try multiple receiveconfigurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving varioussignals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. Forexample, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions byreceiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing receivedsignals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving accordingto different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., differentdirectional listening weight sets) applied to signals received atmultiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing receivedsignals according to different receive beamforming weight sets appliedto signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array,any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to differentreceive configurations or receive directions. In some examples, areceiving device may use a single receive configuration to receive alonga single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The singlereceive configuration may be aligned in a beam direction determinedbased on listening according to different receive configurationdirections (e.g., a beam direction determined to have a highest signalstrength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or otherwise acceptablesignal quality based on listening according to multiple beamdirections).

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based networkthat operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane,communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may performpacket segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels.A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling andmultiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layermay also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, orboth to support retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenanceof an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or a corenetwork 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At thephysical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

The UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may support retransmissions ofdata to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully.Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is one technique forincreasing the likelihood that data is received correctly over acommunication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of errordetection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward errorcorrection (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request(ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radioconditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise conditions). In some examples, adevice may support same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provideHARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbolin the slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in asubsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

A UE 115 may establish a communication link between the UE 115 and aserving base station (e.g., a base station 105 serving the UE 115). TheUE 115 may obtain measurements of a set of quality of experiencevariables associated with the service type over communication linkbetween the UE 115 and the serving base station, at the applicationlayer of the UE 115. A few examples of service types can be streamingvideo, Virtual Reality (VR), Multimedia Telephony Service for IMS(MTSI), or Multicast Broadcast Services (MBS). The UE 115 may obtain, atan access stratum of the UE 115, a set of radio resource managementvariables associated with the communication link between the UE 115 andthe serving base station and radio measurements of the neighboring basestations. The UE 115 may transmit a measurement report to the servingbase station indicating information associated with the quality ofexperience variables and the radio resource management variables in amulti-layer readable format.

A base station 105 (e.g., when the base station 105 is a serving basestation of a UE 115) may establish a communication link with a UE 115.The base station 105 may receive a measurement report from the UE 115indicating information associated with a set of QoE variables and a setof RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The base station 105may adjust, in response to the measurement report, the communicationlink between the UE 115 and the serving base station.

A base station 105 (e.g., when the base station 105 is a target basestation of a UE 115) may receive a resource status request from aserving base station of a UE 115, the resource status request indicatinga QoE constraint of the UE 115 and a set of QoE variables of the UE 115.The base station 105 may determine, based at least in part on the set ofQoE variables, whether the target base station(s) can satisfy the QoEconstraint of the UE 115. The base station 105 may transmit a resourcestatus response to the serving base station indicating an ability tosupport the QoE constraint of the UE 115.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 200that supports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, wirelesscommunications system 200 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications system 100. Wireless communications system 200 mayinclude UE 205, base station 210, base station 215, a base station 220,which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. In someaspects, base station 210 may be a serving base station of UE 205. Insome aspects, base station 215 and base station 220 may be target basestations of UE 205.

In some aspects, UE 205 may have a communication link established withbase station 210. For example, UE 205 may have performed an accessprocedure with base station 210 to establish the communication link,with base station 210 being the serving base station of UE 205. UE 205may measure, observe, identify, or otherwise obtain RRM variables forthe communication link between UE 205 and base station 210. For example,UE 205 may identify RRM variables, such as RSRP, RSSI, CSI, channelquality information (CQI), interference level(s), etc., using varioustransmissions from base station 210. Such transmissions may includesynchronization signal transmissions, reference signal transmissions, orthe like. Such RRM variables are typically obtained by various sublayersof the access stratum of the UE, e.g., the physical sublayer, the RLCsublayer, the RRC sublayer, etc. RRM variables are typically exchangedbetween the various sublayers of the access stratum and used forcommunication link optimization. For example, various communicationparameters used for the communication link may be optimized based on theRRM variables. For example, the MCS may be updated, the bandwidth forthe communication link may be updated, an aggregation level (AL) of thecommunication link may be updated, an ARQ function of the communicationlink may be activated/deactivated, or the like, based on the RRMvariables to optimize performance of the communication link. Forexample, UE 205 may transmit a measurement report 225 to base station210 carrying or otherwise conveying an indication of the RRM variables230.

In some aspects, QoE variables may be measured, observed, identified, orotherwise obtained at the application layer of UE 205. The QoE variablesmay generally correspond to variables indicative of the quality of theoverall user experience at the application layer. In some aspects, theQoE variables may capture an average application layer QoE performance(e.g., the QoE measurements). One example of a QoE variable may includethe application layer measuring, monitoring, or otherwise determining athroughput rate at the application layer. That is, the application layermay determine the rate at which packets are communicated from theapplication layer of a transmitting device to the correspondingapplication layer of the receiving device. The throughput rate (e.g.,AvgAppLayThrough) may be instantaneous and/or averaged over a timeperiod.

Another example of a QoE variable may include the application layermeasuring, monitoring, or otherwise determining, a round trip time (RTT)at the application layer. That is, the application layer may determinethe time that it takes for a packet to be transmitted from theapplication layer of a transmitting device until a responsive packet isreceived from the receiving device at the application layer of thetransmitting device. The RTT (e.g., AvgAppLayerRTT) may be instantaneousand/or averaged over a time period.

Another example of a QoE variable may include the application layermeasuring, monitoring, or otherwise determining, a jitter (e.g., ajitter rate) at the application layer. That is, the application layermay measure the jitter rate observed at the application layer. Thejitter (e.g., AvgAppLayerJitter) may be instantaneous and/or averagedover a time period.

Another example of a QoE variable may include the cell identifier, e.g.,an identifier associated with base station 210. That is, the applicationlayer may identify the cell identifier of base station 210.

Another example of a QoE variable may include a service type. That is,the application layer may have a number of applications in operation,with at least some of those operations including the applicationcommunicating via the communication link. Accordingly, each applicationmay have a corresponding application type indicative of, or otherwiseassociated with, the type of service being provided for the application.A few examples of service types can be streaming video, Virtual Reality(VR), Multimedia Telephony Service for IMS (MTSI), or MulticastBroadcast Services (MBS). Accordingly, the service type associated witheach application of the application layer may dictate the QoE variablefor that application.

Accordingly, in some aspects UE 205 may have a QoE constraint. Broadly,the QoE constraint of UE 205 may correspond to a requested QoE variablesatisfying a particular threshold. For example, a QoE constraint mayinclude a QoE capability of providing large amounts of data streamed fora certain time period. The QoE measurements can demonstrates whether theQoE constraints of UE 205 are satisfied. As part of the applicationlayer optimizations, UE 205 may obtain a large set of QoE variables,however, many of these QoE variable may have limited significance forRAN optimization purpose. A subset of these QoE variable per servicetype or generic overall satisfaction level can be obtained by theapplication layer of UE 205 for RAN optimizations and send it to theaccess stratum of the UE 205. The subset of the QoE variable or thegeneric score may correspond to UE QoE constraints.

In some aspects, the QoE variables may capture the percentage of timethat a QoE metric (e.g., a QoE variable) is violated. For example, a QoEvariable may be violated when the QoE constraint of that QoE variable isnot being satisfied at the application layer. Accordingly, anotherexample of a QoE variable may include the application layer measuring,monitoring, or otherwise determining, the time in which the QoEconstraint for the instant and/or averaged throughput rate is beingobserved at the application layer and the time in which the QoEconstraint for the instant and/or averaged throughput rate is not beingobserved at the application layer. More particularly, the applicationlayer may determine the percentage of the total time that the minimum,needed, requested, etc., QoE variable corresponding to the instantand/or averaged throughput rate is not being satisfied by thecorresponding instant and/or averaged throughput rate observed by theapplication layer. An example may include an exception application layerthroughput rate (e.g., ExcAppLayThrough).

Another example of a QoE variable may include the application layermeasuring, monitoring, or otherwise determining, the time in which theQoE constraint for the instant and/or averaged RTT is being observed atthe application layer and the time in which the QoE constraint for theinstant and/or averaged RTT is not being observed at the applicationlayer. More particularly, the application layer may determine thepercentage of the total time that the minimum, needed, requested, etc.,QoE variable corresponding to the RTT is not being satisfied by thecorresponding instant and/or averaged RTT observed by the applicationlayer. An example may include an exception application layer RTT (e.g.,ExcAppLayerRTT).

Another example of a QoE variable may include the application layermeasuring, monitoring, or otherwise determining, the time in which theQoE constraint for the instant and/or averaged packet drop rate is beingobserved at the application layer and the time in which the QoEconstraint for the instant and/or averaged packet drop rate is not beingobserved at the application layer. More particularly, the applicationlayer may determine the percentage of the total time that the minimum,needed, requested, etc., QoE variable corresponding to the instantand/or averaged packet drop rate is not being satisfied by thecorresponding instant and/or averaged packet drop rate observed by theapplication layer. An example may include an exception application layerpacket drop rate (e.g., ExcAppLayerPacketDrop).

Similar to how RRM variables are used for optimization of thecommunication link by the RAN, the QoE variables are used forapplication layer optimizations. For example, various application layerparameters are updated for the communication link based on the QoEvariables observed by the application layers at eachtransmitting/receiving device.

However, in some wireless communications systems the set of QoEvariables is typically unknown by other layers. For example, the datacorresponding to the QoE variables is packetized into a packet format bythe application layer and then provided to the access stratum fortransmission. Broadly, the access stratum includes various sublayersthat receive or otherwise obtain packets from the application layer,perform various processes on the packets (e.g., sequence number additionfor packet tracking/assembly, header(s) addition, ciphering, integrityprotection, encoding, mapping to logical channels, etc.) before beingprovided to the physical layer (e.g., the lowest sublayer of the accessstratum) for modulation, mapping of the logical channels to physicalchannels, and transmission over time, frequency, spatial, etc., physicalresources of the communication link. At the receiving device, the accessstratum receives the transmissions at the physical layer, which passesthe packets through the sublayers of the access stratum. These sublayersperform various processes on the packets (e.g., mapping to logicalchannels, decoding, integrity verification, deciphering, packetreassembly, ARQ, etc.) before being provided to the application layerfor recovery of the information carried or otherwise conveyed in thepackets.

Generally, the packets provided to the access stratum for transmissionare opaque from the perspective of the RAN (e.g., the data beingconveyed in the packets is not in a format that the sublayers of theaccess stratum can read as the packet passes through each sublayer),which includes the QoE variables measured at the application layer.Accordingly, such wireless communications systems do not provide amechanism where the RAN can consider the QoE variables for communicationlink optimizations and/or handover.

In some situations a good radio signal (e.g., the RRM variablessatisfying or, in some cases, exceeding RRM performance thresholdlevels) may not necessarily result in a good user experience (e.g., theQoE variables may fail to satisfy corresponding QoE performancethreshold or constraint even though the RRM thresholds satisfy their RRMperformance thresholds). For example, other factors may impact the QoEperformance of a communication link beyond the quality of the radiolink, e.g., the radio access technology (RAT) of the communication link,the total system bandwidth, the load/congestion levels of the network,packet delay/loss rate of the network, the jitter rate of the network,etc. Accordingly, such wireless communications systems may not leverageQoE variables at the RAN for link optimizations and/or handover.

Accordingly, aspects of the described techniques provide for UE 205 toconvert, at least to some degree, QoE variables (e.g., measurements ofthe QoE variables) at the application layer into a format that isreadable by the access stratum of UE 205 and RAN. UE 205 may have anactive communication link established with its serving base station,e.g., base station 210. UE 205 may measure the QoE variables (e.g., aset of QoE variables) at the application layer of UE 205. UE 205 mayalso measure the RRM variables (e.g., a set of RRM variables) at theaccess stratum of UE 205, e.g., RSRP, RSSI, CSI, CQI,signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio (SINR), etc. The RRM variables maybe for the communication link between UE 205 and its serving basestation (e.g., base station 210) as well as communication link(s)between UE 205 and neighboring base station(s) of the UE (e.g., basestation 215 and/or base station 220 that may be able to support wirelesscommunication link(s) with UE 205).

UE 205 may transmit or otherwise provide the measurement report 225 toits serving base station (e.g., to base station 210) indicatinginformation associated with the set of QoE variables 235 in addition tothe set of RRM variables 230. In some aspects, UE 205 may transmit themeasurement report 225 in a multi-layer readable format, e.g., in aformat readable by the application layer and the access stratum. Forexample, UE 205 may obtain and convert a subset QoE variables into aformat or obtain generic score readable by the access stratum andtransfer the converted QoE variables to the RAN, which forwards the QoEvariables to base station 210. That is, UE 205 may convert the RANreadable QoE measurements. UE 205 may transfer the set of QoE variablesfrom the application layer to the access stratum in a format readable bythe RAN. In this situation, the UE may transmit the measurement report225 indicating the set of RRM variables 230 and the set of QoE variables235. In some aspects of this example, this may be based on thecapability of UE 205. For example, if UE 205 is capable of obtaining theRAN aware QoE measurements, the network may configure UE 205 withoptional QoE measurement parameters (e.g., using RRC signaling) orwithin application layer QoE container.

In another example, UE 205 may generate a summary of the QoE variables235, package the summary in a transparent container, and provide theindication of the summary of the QoE variables 235 to the access stratum(e.g., package the summary of the QoE variables in a format readable bythe RAN) via the transparent container. That is, UE 205 may send the QoEmeasurements in an eXtensible markup language (XML format), and basestation 210 may convert the measurements into the RAN readable formatfor processing/application. Accordingly, UE 205 may generate a summaryof the set of QoE variables 235 to obtain the summary QoE report. Themeasurement report 225 may be configured at the application and/oraccess stratum to indicate the summary report (e.g., as the set of QoEvariables 235). In some aspects of this example, this may be based onthe capability of UE 205. For example, if UE 205 is capable of obtainingthe summary of QoE measurements at the access stratum in the RANreadable format, then the network may extract the transparent containerto recover the summary of QoE measurements.

In another example, if UE 205 is unable to obtain the QoE measurementsin a format readable by the RAN, the network (edge cloud or QoE server)can convert the QoE measurement into the RAN readable format and providethe QoE measurements to the RAN or serving base station.

In some aspects, UE 205 and/or base station 210 may update or otherwiseadjust the communication link (e.g., the active communication link)based on the set of RRM variables 230 and/or the set of QoE variables235. Generally, the QoE variables captured at the application layer mayinclude various fields (e.g., individual QoE variable(s)) that areirrelevant to other layers, such as the access stratum. However, someQoE variable(s) may be relevant to the RAN optimizations, which mayimprove communication link optimizations and/or mobility. For example,throughput rates, delays, RTTs, packet drop rates, application layerbuffer status or the like, observed at the access stratum may be quitedifferent than the throughput rates, delays, RTTs, packet drop rates, orthe like, observed at the application layer. Accordingly, the describedtechniques where the set of QoE variables 235 are provided in amulti-layer readable format (e.g., in a format readable by theapplication layer and the RAN) may permit the set of QoE variables 235to be utilized by the RAN for communication link optimization andmobility.

As one example when the communication link is performing at anacceptable level, this may include adjusting or otherwise updatingvarious communication parameters used for the communication link (e.g.,various RAN parameters, such as adjusting a MCS, adjusting a bandwidthfor the communication link, adjusting a resource allocation, or thelike) based on the set of RRM variables and/or set of QoE variables. Forexample, UE 205 and/or base station 210 may increase a resourceallocation for the communication link based on an averaged (or excepted)throughput rate observed at the application layer. In another example,UE 205 and/or base station 210 may schedule communications based on apacket drop rate observed at the application layer. In another example,UE 205 and/or base station 210 may schedule communications based on anRTT observed that the application layer in order to satisfy latencyrequirements.

In another example when the communication link is performing at anunacceptable level, adjusting the communication link this may includeperforming a handover procedure of UE 205 from the serving base station(e.g., base station 210) to a target base station (e.g., base station215 or base station 220) in order for UE 205 to establish a newcommunication link with the target base station. For example, themeasurement report 225 may include the set of RRM variables 230 fortarget base station(s) that may be able to establish the newcommunication link with UE 205.

For example, base station 210 may configure UE 205 to perform QoEmeasurements (e.g., to identify the set of QoE variables) for mobilitypurposes. Base station 210 may use QoE measurements triggered by anoperations and administration management (OAM) function of the networkfor mobility purposes. That is, base station 210 may transmit aconfiguration signal (e.g., a measurement request) indicating which QoEvariables that UE 205 is to measure and report to base station 210.Accordingly, UE 205 may identify the QoE variables indicated in themeasurement request, and includes those in the set of QoE variables.

In some aspects, a handover procedure may be event trigger-based. Forexample, handover procedures may be performed in response to variousevents being triggered (e.g., such as A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, B1, B2, etc.,event triggered measurements). That is, various events are defined suchthat, if UE 205 determines that an event has been triggered (e.g., a RRMvariable fails to satisfy a threshold performance quality and/or reachesa low performance quality threshold), UE 205 will perform certainmeasurements related to the RRM variable(s) and transmit the results ofthe measurements in the measurement report 225, e.g., in the set of RRMvariables 230 together with QoE measurements 235.

In some aspects, a new event is described herein (e.g., a Q1 triggeringevent) to initiate a handover procedure upon satisfying a particular QoEconstraint. For example, UE 205 may monitor various QoE variable(s)(e.g., perform QoE measurements) and compare the results tocorresponding QoE constraint(s) (e.g., threshold(s)). If the measuredQoE variable(s) fail to satisfy the corresponding QoE constraint, thismay trigger the corresponding Q1 event to begin the process ofdetermining whether a handover is warranted, and performed if so.

In some aspects, the Q1 event trigger may send an indication to accessstratum of the UE 205 to obtain the RRM measurements. Upon suchindication UE 205 performs RRM measurements. In some aspects, the Q1event trigger may be defined by the RRC layer as below:

5.5.4.15 Event Q1 (QoE becomes worse than threshold)

The UE shall:

-   -   1> consider the entering condition for this event to be        satisfied when condition Q1-1, as specified below, is fulfilled;        -   1> consider the leaving condition for this event to be            satisfied when condition Q1-2, as specified below, is            fulfilled;        -   1> for this measurement, consider the NR serving cell            corresponding to the associated measObjectNR associated with            this event.            Inequality Q1-1 (Entering condition)            Ms(x)−Hys(x)<Thresh(x)            Inequality Q1-2 (Leaving condition)            Ms(x)+Hys(x)>Thresh(x)            Where x indicates the different QoE metric. There can be two            choices for trigger this event            Choice 1:—trigger when all of the QoE fall below            threshold—hysteresis, i.e., Q1-1 become ∀x.            Choice 2:—trigger when any of the QoE fall below threshold.            The variables in the formula are defined as follows:    -   Ms(x) is the QoE measurement result of metric “x” at the serving        cell, not taking into account any offsets.    -   Hys(x) is the hysteresis parameter of metric “x” for this event        (i.e. hysteresis as defined within reportConfigNR for this        event).    -   Thresh(x) is the threshold parameter of metric “x” for this        event (i.e. q1-Threshold as defined within reportConfigNR for        this event).    -   Ms(x) is expressed in the respective unit of QoE metric    -   Hys(x) is expressed in the respective unit of QoE metric    -   Thresh(x) is expressed in the same unit as Ms(x).

Accordingly, upon a determination that one or more of the QoE variablesin the set of QoE variables fails to satisfy the corresponding QoEconstraint, this may trigger the Q1 event response (as is describedabove). The response may include performing various RRM measurements forthe communication link between UE 205 and base station 210 and betweenUE 205 and base station 215 and/or base station 220 (e.g., target basestations). The response may include performing various QoE measurementsfor the communication link between UE 205 and base station 210.

Accordingly, UE 205 may transmit the measurement report 225 indicatingthe set of RRM variables 230 and/or the set of QoE variables 235. Insome aspects, the measurement report 225 may be configured to indicateinformation associated with the set of RRM variables 230 and/or the setof QoE variables 235. For example, base station 210 may transmit an RRCconfiguration signal to UE 205 indicating a format for the measurementreport 225 including information associated with the set of QoEvariables 235 for RAN optimizations. In one example, this may includebase station 210 transmitting a report configuration NR (ReportConfigNR)information element (IE). One example of the report configuration NR IEmay include:

-- ASN1START -- TAG-REPORTCONFIGNR-START ReportConfigNR ::= SEQUENCE {reportType CHOICE { periodical PeriodicalReportConfig, eventTriggeredEventTriggerConfig, ..., reportCGI , reportSFTD ReportSFTD-NR,condTriggerConfig-r16 , cli-Periodical-r16CLI-PeriodicalReportConfig-r16, cli-EventTriggered-r16CLI-EventTriggerConfig-r16, } } ReportSFTD-NR ::= SEQUENCE {reportSFTD-Meas BOOLEAN, reportRSRP BOOLEAN, ..., [[reportSFTD-NeighMeas ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -- Need Rdrx-SFTD-NeighMeas  ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -- Need RcellsForWhichToReportSFTD SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxCellSFTD)) OF PhysCellIdOPTIONAL -- Need R ]] } CondTriggerConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { condEventIdCHOICE { condEventA3 SEQUENCE { a3-Offset MeasTriggerQuantityOffset,hysteresis , timeToTrigger }, condEventA5 SEQUENCE { a5-Threshold1 MeasTriggerQuantity, a5-Threshold2  MeasTriggerQuantity, hysteresis ,timeToTrigger }, ... }, rsType-r16  NR-RS-Type, ... }EventTriggerConfig::= SEQUENCE { eventId CHOICE { eventA1 SEQUENCE {a1-Threshold MeasTriggerQuantity, reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis ,timeToTrigger }, eventA2 SEQUENCE { a2-Threshold MeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis , timeToTrigger }, eventA3 SEQUENCE {a3-Offset  MeasTriggerQuantityOffset, reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis, timeToTrigger , useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN }, eventA4 SEQUENCE {a4-Threshold MeasTriggerQuantity, reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis ,timeToTrigger , useWhiteCellList BOOLEAN }, eventA5 SEQUENCE {a5-Threshold1 MeasTriggerQuantity, a5-Threshold2 MeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis , timeToTrigger , useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN }, eventA6 SEQUENCE { a6-Offset  MeasTriggerQuantityOffset,reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis , timeToTrigger , useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN }, ..., [[ eventQ1 SEQUENCE { q1-ThresholdMeasTriggerQuantityQoE, reportOnLeave  BOOLEAN, hysteresis ,timeToTrigger }, ]] }, rsType NR-RS-Type, reportInterval , reportAmount ENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity},reportQuantityCell MeasReportQuantity, maxReportCells  INTEGER(1..maxCellReport), reportQuantityRS-Indexes  MeasReportQuantityOPTIONAL, -- Need R maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport INTEGER(1..maxNrofIndexesToReport) OPTIONAL, -- Need R includeBeamMeasurementsBOOLEAN, reportAddNeighMeas ENUMERATED {setup} OPTIONAL, -- Need R ...,[[ measRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 OPTIONAL, -- Need R useT312-r16 BOOLEANOPTIONAL, -- Need M includeCommonLocationInfo-r16 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL, -- Need R includeBT-Meas-r16 BT-NameListConfig-r16 OPTIONAL,-- Need R includeWLAN-Meas-r16  WLAN-NameListConfig-r16 OPTIONAL, --Need R includeSensor-Meas-r16 Sensor-NameListConfig-r16 OPTIONAL -- NeedR ]], [[ measReportQoE-r17 MeasReportQoE-r17 OPTIONAL -- Need R ]] }PeriodicalReportConfig ::= SEQUENCE { rsType NR-RS-Type, reportInterval, reportAmount ENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity},reportQuantityCell MeasReportQuantity, maxReportCells INTEGER(1..maxCellReport), reportQuantityRS-Indexes  MeasReportQuantityOPTIONAL, -- Need R maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport INTEGER(1..maxNrofIndexesToReport) OPTIONAL, -- Need R includeBeamMeasurementsBOOLEAN, useWhiteCellList  BOOLEAN, ..., [[ measRSSI-ReportConfig-r16OPTIONAL, -- Need R includeCommonLocationInfo-r16 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL, -- Need R includeBT-Meas-r16 BT-NameListConfig-r16 OPTIONAL,-- Need R includeWLAN-Meas-r16  WLAN-NameListConfig-r16  OPTIONAL, --Need R includeSensor-Meas-r16 Sensor-NameListConfig-r16 OPTIONAL, --Need R ul-DelayValueConfig-r16 SetupRelease{UL-DelayValueConfig-r16}OPTIONAL -- Need R ]], [[ measReportQoE-r17 MeasReportQoE-r17 OPTIONAL-- Need R ]] } NR-RS-Type ::= ENUMERATED {ssb, csi-rs}MeasTriggerQuantity ::= CHOICE { rsrp RSRP-Range, rsrq RSRQ-Range, sinrSINR-Range } MeasTriggerQuantityQoE :: CHOICE { throughputThroughput-Range, appLayerRTT AppLayerRTT-Range, appLayetPacketDropAppLayerPacketDrop-Range, appLayerJitter AppLayerJitter-Range,satisfactionCategory SatisfactionCategory-Range }MeasTriggerQuantityOffset ::= CHOICE { rsrp INTEGER (−30..30), rsrqINTEGER (−30..30), sinr INTEGER (−30..30) } MeasReportQuantity ::= SEQUENCE { rsrp BOOLEAN, rsrq BOOLEAN, sinr BOOLEAN }MeasRSSI-ReportConfig-r16 ::=  SEQUENCE { channelOccupancyThreshold-r16INTEGER (1..ffsValue) OPTIONAL, -- Need R ... }CLI-EventTriggerConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { eventId-r16 CHOICE {eventI1-r16 SEQUENCE { i1-Threshold-r16 MeasTriggerQuantity CLI-r16,reportOnLeave-r16  BOOLEAN, hysteresis-r16 Hysteresis, timeToTrigger-r16 TimeToTrigger }, ... }, reportInterval-r16 ReportInterval,reportAmount-r16 ENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64, infinity},maxReportCLI-r16  INTEGER (1..maxCLI-Report-r16), ... }CLI-PeriodicalReportConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { reportinterval-r16ReportInterval, reportAmount-r16 ENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32,r64, infinity}, reportQuantityCLI-r16 MeasReportQuantityCLI-r16,maxReportCLI-r16 INTEGER (1..maxCLI-Report-r16), ... }MeasTriggerQuantityCLI-r16 ::= CHOICE { srs-RSRP-r16 SRS-RSRP-Range-r16, cli-RSSI-r16 CLI-RSSI-Range-r16 }MeasReportQuantityCLI-r16 ::= ENUMERATED {srs-rsrp, cli-rssi} --TAG-REPORTCONFIGNR-STOP -- ASN1STOP

Corresponding field descriptions for the report configuration NR IE mayinclude:

CondTriggerConfig field descriptions a3-Offset Offset value(s) to beused in NR conditional configuration triggering condition for cond eventa3. The actual value is field value * 0.5 dB.a5-Threshold1/a5-Threshold2 Threshold value associated to the selectedtrigger quantity (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR) per RS Type (e.g., SS/PBCHblock, CSI-RS) to be used in NR conditional configuration triggeringcondition for event number a5. In the same eventA5, the networkconfigures the same quantity for the MeasTriggerQuantity of thea5-Threshold1 and for the MeasTriggerQuantity of the a5-Threshold2.condEventId Choice of NR conditional reconfiguration event triggeredcriteria. timeToTrigger Time during which specific criteria for theevent needs to be met in order to execute the conditional configurationevaluation.

ReportConfigNR field descriptions reportType Type of the configuredmeasurement report. In EN-DC, network does not configure report of typereportCGI using SRB3. The condTriggerConfig is used for CHO or CPCconfiguration.

ReportCGIfield descriptions useAutonomousGaps Indicates whether or notthe UE is allowed to use autonomous gaps in acquiring system informationfrom the NR neighbour cell. When the field is included, the UE appliesthe corresponding value for T321.

EventTriggerConfig field descriptions a3-Offset/a6-Offset Offsetvalue(s) to be used in NR measurement report triggering condition forevent a3/a6. The actual value is field value * 0.5 dB. aN-ThresholdMThreshold value associated to the selected trigger quantity (e.g., RSRP,RSRQ, SINR) per RS Type (e.g., SS/PBCH block, CSI-RS) to be used in NRmeasurement report triggering condition for event number aN. If multiplethresholds are defined for event number aN, the thresholds aredifferentiated by M. The network configures aN-Threshold1 only forevents A1, A2, A4, A5 and a5-Threshold2 only for event A5. In the sameeventA5, the network configures the same quantity for theMeasTriggerQuantity of the a5-Threshold1 and for the MeasTriggerQuantityof the a5-Threshold2. channelOccupancyThreshold RSSI threshold which isused for channel occupancy evaluation. eventId Choice of NR eventtriggered reporting criteria. maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport Max number of RSindexes to include in the measurement report for A1-A6 and Q1 events.maxReportCells Max number of non-serving cells to include in themeasurement report. reportAddNeighMeas Indicates that the UE shallinclude the best neighbour cells per serving frequency. reportAmountNumber of measurement reports applicable for eventTriggered as well asfor periodical report types. reportOnLeave Indicates whether or not theUE shall initiate the measurement reporting procedure when the leavingcondition is met for a cell in cellsTriggeredList, as specified in5.5.4.1. reportQuantityCell The cell measurement quantities to beincluded in the measurement report. reportQuantityRS-Indexes Indicateswhich measurement information per RS index the UE shall include in themeasurement report. timeToTrigger Time during which specific criteriafor the event needs to be met in order to trigger a measurement report.ul-DelayValueConfig If the field is present, the UE shall perform theactual PDCP queueing delay measurement per DRB as specified in TS 38.314[53] and the UE shall ignore the fields reportQuantityCell andmaxReportCells. The applicable values for the correspondingreportInterval are (one of the) {ms120, ms240, ms480, ms640, ms1024,ms2048, ms5120, ms10240, ms20480, ms40960, min1, min6, min12, min30}.The reportInterval indicates the periodicity for reporting of UL PDCPDelay per DRB measurement as specified in TS 38.314 [53]. useT312 Ifvalue TRUE is configured, the UE shall use the timer T312 with the valuet312 as specified in the corresponding measObjectNR. If value FALSE isconfigured, the timer T312 is considered as disabled. Network configuresvalue TRUE only if reportType is set to eventTriggered. useWhiteCellListIndicates whether only the cells included in the white-list of theassociated measObject are applicable as specified in 5.5.4.1.

CLI-EventTriggerConfig field descriptions i1-Threshold Threshold valueassociated to the selected trigger quantity (e.g., SRS-RSRP, CLI-RSSI)to be used in CLI measurement report triggering condition for event i1.eventId Choice of CLI event triggered reporting criteria. maxReportCLIMax number of CLI measurement resource to include in the measurementreport. reportAmount Number of measurement reports. reportOnLeaveIndicates whether or not the UE shall initiate the measurement reportingprocedure when the leaving condition is met for a CLI measurementresource in srsTriggeredList or rssiTriggeredList, as specified in5.5.4.1. timeToTrigger Time during which specific criteria for the eventneeds to be met in order to trigger a measurement report.

CLI-PeriodicalReportConfig field descriptions maxReportCLI Max number ofCLI measurement resource to include in the measurement report.reportAmount Number of measurement reports. reportQuantityCLI The CLImeasurement quantities to be included in the measurement report.

PeriodicalReportConfig field descriptions maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport Maxnumber of RS indexes to include in the measurement report.maxReportCells Max number of non-serving cells to include in themeasurement report. reportAmount Number of measurement reportsapplicable for eventTriggered as well as for periodical report typesreportQuantityCell The cell measurement quantities to be included in themeasurement report. reportQuantityRS-Indexes Indicates which measurementinformation per RS index the UE shall include in the measurement report.useWhiteCellList Indicates whether only the cells included in thewhite-list of the associated measObject are applicable as specified in5.5.4.1.

ReportSFTD-NR field descriptions cellForWhichToReportSFTD Indicates thetarget NR neighbour cells for SFTD measurement between PCell and NRneighbour cells. drx-SFTD-NeighMeas Indicates that the UE shall useavailable idle periods (i.e. DRX off periods) for the SFTD measurementin NR standalone. The network only includes drx-SFTD-NeighMeas fieldwhen reprtSFTD-NeighMeas is set to true. reportSFTD-Meas Indicateswhether UE is required to perform SFTD measurement between PCell and NRPSCell in NR-DC. reportSFTD-NeighMeas Indicates whether UE is requiredto perform SFTD measurement between PCell and NR neighbour cells in NRstandalone. The network does not include this field if reportSFTD-Measis set to true. reportRSRP Indicates whether UE is required to includeRSRP result of NR PSCell in SFTD measurement result, derived based onSSB. If it is set to true, the network should ensure thatssb-ConfigMobility is included in the measurement object for NR PSCell.

Accordingly, UE 205 may receive the report configuration NR IE andconfigure the measurement report 225 accordingly. Again, the measurementreport 225 may include RRM variables for target base stations of UE 205,which may include base station 215 and/or base station 220.

In this handover example, base station 210 may transmit a resourcestatus request to the target base station(s) (e.g., to base station 215and/or base station 220) indicated in the measurement report 225. Theresource status request may carry or otherwise convey an indication ofthe QoE constraint of UE 205 (e.g., the requested QoE level of the UE)and the set of QoE variables of UE 205. In some aspects, the resourcestatus request may include a handover preparation information message.The handover preparation information message is used to transfer the NRRRC information used by the target gNB (e.g., base station 215 and/orbase station 220) during handover preparation or UE context retrieval,e.g., in case of resume or re-establishment, including UE capabilityinformation (e.g., UE 205 capability information). The handoverpreparation information message is also used for transferring theinformation between the central unit (CU) and distributed unit(s)(DU)(s). The direction of the handover preparation message is from thesource gNB/source RAN (e.g., base station 210) to target gNB (e.g.,target base station 215 and/or base station 220) or CU to DU. An exampleof the handover preparation information message may include:

-- ASN1START -- TAG-HANDOVER-PREPARATION-INFORMATION-START /* OmmitedAS-Context ::= SEQUENCE { reestablishmentInfo OPTIONAL,configRestrictInfo ConfigRestrictInfoSCG OPTIONAL, ..., [[ran-NotificationAreaInfo OPTIONAL ]], [[ ueAssistanceInformation OCTETSTRING (CONTAINING UEAssistanceInformation) OPTIONAL -- CondHO2 ]], [[selectedBandCombinationSN BandCombinationInfoSN OPTIONAL ]], [[configRestrictInfoDAPS-r16 OPTIONAL, sidelinkUEInformationNR-r16 OCTETSTRING OPTIONAL, sidelinkUEInformationEUTRA-r16 OCTET STRING OPTIONAL,ueAssistanceInformationEUTRA-r16  OCTET STRING OPTIONAL ]], [[measReportQoE-r17 OCTET STRING OPTIONAL ]] } /* Ommited

The target base station(s) may each determine whether their respectivecapability to satisfy the QoE constraint of UE 205 and, if so, transmitsa resource status response to the serving base station (e.g., to basestation 210) indicating the ability to support the QoE constraint of UE205. In some aspects, each resource status response may indicate sendingtarget base station capability to satisfy the required UE QoE (e.g.,indicate the QoE level that the target base station can support). Theserving base station (e.g., base station 210) may select the target basestation(s) to perform the handover procedure for UE 205 based on theresource status response(s) received from the target base station(s),e.g., based on the QoE variables/RRM variables of UE 205 and the eachtarget base station capability of satisfying the UE QoE constraint,where the target base station is capable of providing the best QoE levelto UE 205. Accordingly, the serving base station may perform a handoverrequest/response exchange with the target base station to initiate ahandover procedure of UE 205 to the target base station to establish thenew communication link. Accordingly, the described techniques permit theQoE variables measured at the application layer of UE 205 for the RANoptimizations to be provided in a format readable by the RAN, which mayutilize the QoE variables in conjunction with the RRM variables forcommunication link optimization and/or mobility.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a process 300 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. In some examples, process 300 may be implemented byor may implement aspects of wireless communications systems 100 and/or200. Aspects of process 300 may be implemented by UE 305 and/or servingbase station 310, which may be examples of corresponding devicesdescribed herein. UE 305 may include an application layer 315 and anaccess stratum 320, which may also be examples of corresponding devicesdescribed herein.

At 325, UE 305 and serving base station 310 may establish acommunication link. The communication link may be established during aprocedure, such as an initial access procedure, a cell reselectionprocedure, or the like. The communication link may be configured withvarious time, frequency, spatial, code, etc., resources used forperforming communications between UE 305 and serving base station 310.

At 330, UE 305 may measure a set of QoE variables at the applicationlayer 315. The set of QoE variables may be used for the optimization ofthe communication link between UE 305 and serving base station 310.Examples of the QoE variables may include, but are not limited to, acell identifier of serving base station 310, a service type for servicebe communicated over the communication link (e.g., type of service(s)being utilized by application(s) operating at the application layer315), an average application layer throughput rate, an averageapplication layer RTT measurement, an average application layer jitter,an average application layer to operate, and/or failure rates for theapplication layer throughput rate, RTT measurement, jitter rate, packetdrop rate, etc. For example, application layer 315 may monitor suchvariables for instantaneous and/or averaged measurements to satisfy aQoE constraint of UE 305 (e.g., a QoE need or requested QoE usage of UE305).

At 335, UE 305 may measure a set of RRM variables at the access stratum320. The set of RRM variables identified at the access stratum 320 maybe associated with the communication link between UE 305 and servingbase station 310. Additionally or alternatively, the set of RRMvariables identified at the access stratum 320 may be associated withcommunication links between UE 305 and a set of one or more target basestations available for UE 305 to potentially connect to in order toestablish a new communication link should the communication link betweenUE 305 and serving base station 310 fall below an acceptable performancethreshold. Example RRM variables in the set of RRM variables mayinclude, but are not limited to, RSRP, RSSI, SINR, CQI, a throughputrate observed at the access stratum 320, an RTT observed at the accessstratum 320, a jitter rate observed at the access stratum 320, a packetdrop rate observed at the access stratum 320, or the like.

In some aspects, corresponding variables between the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables may have different values. Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate observed atthe application layer 315 may be different than the instantaneous and/oraveraged throughput rate observed at the access stratum 320. As anotherexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitter rate,packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the application layer 315 maybe different than the instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement,jitter rate, packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the accessstratum 320.

Broadly, process 300 includes techniques for conversion of the QoEmeasurements (e.g., the set of QoE variables) into a format readable bythe access stratum 320 (e.g., into a multi-layer readable format). Oneoption for such conversion is illustrated at 340 where the applicationlayer 315 converts the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables into aRAN readable format. That is, UE 305 may convert the RAN readable QoEmeasurements.

Generally, conversion of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variablesinto a RAN readable format may include the actual QoE measurements ofthe RAN aware QoE variables into corresponding RRM measurement report(e.g., include a QoE throughput rate into RRM report). In some examples,conversion of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables into the RANreadable format may include converting the actual QoE measurements ofthe QoE variables into information indicative of the measurement(s)(e.g., convert a service type QoE variable into a QoE constraintapplicable to the various sub layers of the access stratum 320).

In some examples, conversion of the QoE measurements of the QoEvariables into a RAN readable format may include conversion of the QoEvariables and/or information indicative of the QoE variables, into aformat readable by particular sublayers of the access stratum 320. Forexample, some QoE variables measured at the application layer 315 may beconverted into a format readable by the physical sublayer, an RLCsublayer, an RRC sublayer, or the like.

UE 305 may maintain (e.g., be configured with which QoEmeasurements/variables are to be reported to serving base station 310)QoE variables to obtain, such as cell ID, service type, averageapplication layer QoE performance, the percentage of time the QoEmetrics (e.g., QoE constraints) are violated, or the like. When the QoEapplication client (e.g., a QoE management client (QMC)) implemented at,or otherwise associated with, application layer 315 performs QoEmeasurements, the QoE application client notifies these parameters toaccess stratum 320 for reporting to serving base station 310. Forexample, application layer 315 of UE 305 may transfer the set of QoEvariables to the access stratum 320 in a format readable by the accessstratum 320. In this option, the access stratum 320 may transmit themeasurement report (discussed below) to serving base station 310 thatindicates the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables and/orinformation indicative of/or otherwise associated with the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables.

Another option for such conversion is illustrated at 345 where theapplication layer 315 packages the QoE variables in the set of QoEvariables into a transparent container for transmission to serving basestation 310. For example, UE 305 may send the QoE measurements in an XMLformat to serving base station 310 in the measurement report, andserving base station 310 converts the QoE measurements into a RANreadable format that can be utilized by serving base station 310 for RANoptimizations. Thus, instead of UE 305 maintaining the QoE variables, UE305 may generate and store a summary of the QoE measurements in atransparent container for RAN optimization. Accordingly, the applicationlayer 315 of UE 305 may generate a summary of the set of QoE variablesto create or otherwise obtain a summary QoE report.

In some aspects, either option for such conversion may be combined. Forexample, the application layer 315 of UE 305 may convert the set of QoEvariables into a format readable by the access stratum 320 and alsogenerate the summary QoE report. For example, UE 305 may provide the setof QoE variables to the access stratum 320 in a RAN readable format andindicate the summary QoE report in the measurement report to servingbase station 310.

Accordingly, at 350 the application layer 315 of the UE 305 may providean indication of the set of QoE variables to the access stratum 320. Theindication of the set of QoE variables may be provided in a formatreadable by the access stratum 320 and/or may be provided in a summaryQoE report. At 355, the access stratum 320 may transmit or otherwiseprovide the measurement report to serving base station 310 indicatinginformation associated with the set of QoE variables and the RRMvariables in a multi-layer readable format. That is, the measurementreport may carry or otherwise indicate the set of QoE variables and/orthe summary QoE report in addition to the set of RRM variables.

At 360, UE 305 and the serving base station 310 may adjust or otherwisemodify the communication link between UE 305 and serving base station310. For example, this may include adjusting various communicationparameters configured for the communication link (e.g., such as MCS,bandwidth, transmit power level(s), latency adjustments, reliabilityadjustments, etc., to provide link optimizations). In some aspects, thismay include adjusting various handover procedure parameters (e.g.,adjusting the levels of QoE and/or RRM variables that trigger a handoverprocedure of UE 305 to a target base station to establish a newcommunication link).

In some aspects, this adjusting may include performing the handoverprocedure of UE 305 from serving base station 310 to establish a newcommunication link with a target base station. For example, UE 305and/or base station 310 may determine that the set of QoE variables failto satisfy a threshold (e.g., fail to satisfy a QoE constraint). Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate QoE variablemay fail to satisfy a corresponding instantaneous and/or averagedthroughput rate QoE constraint. In this situation, the measurementreport may be transmitted in response to the determination that the setof QoE variable(s) failed to satisfy the threshold. Accordingly, servingbase station 310 may transmit (and UE 305 may receive) a connectionreconfiguration message in response to the measurement report thatidentifies the target base station to perform the handover procedure to.Accordingly, UE 305 may perform the handover procedure with the targetbase station to establish a new communication link.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a process 400 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. In some examples, process 400 may be implemented byor may implement aspects of wireless communications systems 100 and/or200 and/or process 300. Aspects of process 400 may be implemented by UE405, serving base station 410, target base station 415, and/or targetbase station 420, which may be examples of corresponding devicesdescribed herein.

UE 405 may include an application layer 425 and an access stratum 430,which may also be examples of corresponding devices described herein.Target base station 415 and/or target base station 420 may be examplesof a set of one or more target base stations, with two target basestations being shown by way of example only.

Generally, UE 405 and serving base 410 may establish a communicationlink. The communication link may be established during an initial accessprocedure, a cell reselection procedure, or the like. The communicationlink may be configured with various time, frequency, spatial, code,etc., resources used for performing communications between UE 405 andserving base station 410.

At 435, UE 405 may measure a set of QoE variables at the applicationlayer 425. The set of QoE variables may be associated with thecommunication link between UE 405 and serving base station 410. Examplesof the QoE variables may include, but are not limited to, a cellidentifier of serving base station 410, a service type for service becommunicated over the communication link (e.g., type of service(s) beingutilized by application(s) operating at application layer 425), anaverage application layer throughput rate, an average application layerRTT measurement, an average application layer jitter, an averageapplication layer to operate, and/or failure rates for the applicationlayer throughput rate, RTT measurement, jitter rate, packet drop rate,etc. For example, application layer 425 may monitor such variables forinstantaneous and/or averaged measurements to satisfy a QoE constraintof UE 405 (e.g., a QoE need or requested QoE service of UE 405).

In some aspects, UE 405 may also measure a set of RRM variables at theaccess stratum of UE 405. The set of RRM variables identified at theaccess stratum may be associated with the communication link between UE405 and serving base station 410. Additionally or alternatively, the setof RRM variables measured at the access stratum may be associated withcommunication links between UE 405 and a set of one or more target basestations available for UE 405 to potentially connect with in order toestablish a new communication link should the communication link betweenUE 405 and serving base station 410 fall below an acceptable performancethreshold, such as target base station 415 and/or target base station420. Example RRM variables in the set of RRM variables may include, butare not limited to, RSRP, RSSI, SINR, CQI, a throughput rate observed atthe access stratum, an RTT observed at the access stratum, a jitter rateobserved at the access stratum, a packet drop rate observed at theaccess stratum, or the like.

In some aspects, corresponding variables between the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables may have different values. Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate observed atthe application layer 425 may be different than the instantaneous and/oraveraged throughput rate observed at the RAN. As another example, aninstantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitter rate, packet droprate, or the like, observed at the application layer 425 may bedifferent than the instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitterrate, packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the RAN. As discussedabove, in some examples the application layer 425 may convert to the setof QoE variables into a format readable by the RAN to link optimizationsand mobility robustness.

Broadly, process 400 includes techniques for utilizing the converted QoEvariables for link optimizations and mobility robustness. For example,serving base station 410 may configure UE 405 to measure and report theset of QoE variables for mobility purposes. Serving base station 410 maytransmit a measurement request to UE 405 that indicates or otherwiseidentifies the QoE variables to include in the set of QoE variables,with the identified QoE variables being measured and reported by UE 405for link management and mobility. The QoE measurements may be utilizedfor the selection of target base stations, for admission control of thetarget base stations, as the handover trigger in a conditional handover(CHO) scenario, or the like.

As discussed above, in some examples this may include a Q1 event triggerbeing defined to initiate a handover procedure in order to meet orotherwise achieve a desirable QoE (e.g., to satisfy a QoE constraint).The Q1 event trigger may be configured by serving base station 410 to UE405 using RRC signaling (e.g., conveying a ReportConfigNR IE). Broadly,the Q1 event trigger may be based on one or more QoE variable(s)becoming worse than a threshold (e.g., failing to satisfy correspondingQoE constraint). Generally, this may include UE 405 considering theentering and/or leaving conditions for the Q1 event being satisfied, andmay consider the NR serving cell corresponding to the associatedmeasObjectNR IE associated with the Q1 event. For example, UE 405 maycompare a measurement result of a QoE variable (e.g., Ms(x)) minus ahysteresis parameter (Hys(x)) to a threshold (e.g., a corresponding QoEconstraint, such as a requested QoE service level). UE 405 may determinethat the Q1 event has been triggered when one, some, or all of the QoEvariables (e.g., (x)) in the set of QoE variables fall below thethreshold.

Accordingly at 440, UE 405 may (e.g., at application layer 425)determine that one or more QoE variables failed to satisfy a threshold(e.g., a corresponding QoE constraint). This may be for one, some, orall of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables. Based on thisdetermination that the QoE variable(s) have failed to satisfy thethreshold, UE 405 may provide a signal to the access stratum 430indicating that the Q1 triggering event has occurred at 445. In someaspects, this indication may include the QoE measurement report (e.g.,may include an indication of the set of QoE variables and/or the summaryQoE report and/or generic QoE score).

Accordingly and at 450, the access stratum 430 may determine that the Q1triggering event condition has been met. For example, the access stratum430 may compare the set of QoE variable(s) indicated in the QoEmeasurement report to the corresponding thresholds, and determine the Q1triggering event for the handover procedure has occurred based on thecomparison.

In response and at 455, the access stratum 430 of UE 405 may transmit ameasurement report to serving base station 410. That is, the accessstratum 430 may determine that the Q1 triggering event has occurredbased on an indication from the application layer 425. Accordingly, theapplication layer 425 and/or the access stratum of UE 405 may configureand transmit the measurement report to serving base station 410. In someaspects, the measurement report may carry or otherwise convey anindication of the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables.Accordingly, the QoE report (e.g., the measurement report) may be usedby the serving base station 410 for a handover decision.

Accordingly, serving base station 410 may determine that the Q1triggering event occurred for UE 405, and therefore initiate a handoverprocedure (e.g., a CHO) of UE 405 to a target base station in the set ofone or more target base stations (e.g., to target base station 415 ortarget base station 420). For example, serving base station 410 maydetermine that the set of QoE variables failed to satisfy the threshold(e.g., the QoE constraint or QoE need of UE 405). For example, themeasurement report received by serving base station 410 may carry orotherwise convey RRM variables for target base stations in the set ofone or more target base stations. Serving base station 410 may identifythe target base stations of UE 405 based on the measurement report.

In response and at 465, this may include serving base station 410transmitting a resource status request to the target base station(s) inthe set of one or more target base stations. For example, serving basestation 410 may transmit a resource status request to target basestation 415 and a resource status request to target base station 420. Insome aspects, the resource status request message may carry or otherwiseconvey an indication of the QoE constraint of UE 405 (e.g., thethreshold) in addition to the set of QoE variables and the set of RRMvariables of UE 405.

One or more of the target base stations in the set of target basestations may respond to the resource status request with a correspondingresource status response. That is, serving base station 410 may receivemultiple resource status responses from at least some of the target basestations of the set of one or more target base stations. Generally, eachresource status response may carry or otherwise convey an indicationwhether the corresponding target base station can satisfy the UE QoEconstraints. That is, target base station 415 and/or target base station420 may receive the resource status request from serving base station410 indicating the QoE constraint (e.g., the threshold associated withthe QoE needs of UE 405) and the set of QoE and RRM variables. Eachtarget base station may determine its own capability to satisfy the UEQoE constraints based on its own traffic load, UE density, networkinterference levels, collision levels, or the like. Accordingly, eachtarget base station may determine the level of QoE service that it canprovide to UE 405 based on the QoE constraint and the reported QoE/RRMvariables.

As discussed herein, in some situations a good radio quality (e.g.,optimal RRM variables) may not necessarily translate to a good userexperience (e.g., poor QoE variables). Accordingly, each target basestation may consider the RRM variables corresponding to the link betweenthat target base station and UE 405 in addition to the QoE constraintand set of QoE variables of UE 405. If a target base station determinesthat it cannot satisfy the QoE constraint of UE 405 based on theresource status request, it may simply ignore the request and notrespond to serving base station 410 or may respond to serving basestation 410 with a resource status response indicating that it is unableto support establishing a new communication link with UE 405.

In some aspects, this may include the target base stations determiningwhether the source cell signal quality (e.g., the RRM variable(s)corresponding to serving base station 410) is comparable with the signalquality (e.g., the RRM capability) of the target base station, but thatthe QoE capability of a target base station is still poor.Traditionally, the target base station by determine that it is asuitable candidate for the handover procedure based on the RRMcapability of a target base station. However, according to the describedtechniques the target base station may determine that, since its QoEcapability is poor (e.g., may not meet, or may fail to satisfy thecorresponding QoE constraint/threshold of UE 405), it cannot provide asuitable QoE to UE 405. For example, the target base station may use theQoE report indicated in the resource status request to determine variouskey performance indicators of UE 405 (e.g., delay, bandwidth, etc.)impacted by the QoE variables. Based on its current load andconfiguration, and the RRM variables for the link between the targetbase station and UE 405 (e.g., as indicated in the resource statusrequest and/or handover request), the target base station may determinewhether it can provide a better and/or satisfactory QoE to UE 405.Accordingly, the target base station may determine that it is, or isnot, a suitable target base station for UE 405.

If the target base station determines that it can satisfy the QoEconstraint of UE 405 based on the resource status request, it mayrespond with a resource status response indicating that is able tosupport establishing a new communication link with UE 405. In someaspects, each resource status response may indicate the target basestation capability in satisfying UE QoE constraints by sending theresponse, as well as identifying information for that target basestation.

Accordingly, serving base station 410 may identify the target basestation(s) providing a resource status response. Serving base station410 may identify or otherwise select the target base station to performthe handover procedure of UE 405 to based on the resource statusresponse(s). For example, serving base station 410 may identify thetarget base station most suitable for providing QoE and RRM services toUE 405, e.g., based on the target base stations capability in satisfyingthe UE QoE constraints indicated in the resource status response.Serving base station 410 may select the target base stationcorresponding to the lowest load level, the best RRM variables, capableof offering the highest QoE service, or the like, based on the resourcestatus responses. Once serving base station 410 selects a target basestation to perform a handover procedure to, a handover request/responseexchange may occur between the serving base station 410 in the selectedtarget base station (e.g., target base station 415 and/or target basestation 420).

Accordingly and at 470, serving base station 410 may transmit orotherwise convey a handover request to the selected target basestation(s). The handover request may carry or otherwise convey anindication that the handover procedure of UE 405 is to be performed tothe target base station. As discussed, the handover request may betransmitted to target base station 415 and/or target base station 420,depending on the resource status response received from each target basestation and used to select the target base station to perform thehandover procedure with. The selected target base station may provide ahandover response indicating support for performing the handoverprocedure of UE 405 to establish a new communication link with thetarget base station. In some aspects, this may include serving basestation 410 transmitting handover request to multiple target basestations, such as those offering the highest level of RRM and/or QoEservices to UE 405. One or more of the target base stations receivingthe handover request may respond with a corresponding handover responseif they are capable and able to perform the handover procedure with UE405. Serving base station 410 may select the target base station toperform the handover procedure with based on the handover response(s),e.g., in addition to, or rather than, selecting the target base stationbased on the resource status responses.

Accordingly, at 475 serving base station 410 may transmit or otherwiseconvey a connection reconfiguration message (e.g., anRRCConnectionReconfiguration message) to UE 405 that identifies thetarget base station to perform the handover procedure with to establisha new communication link. For example, the connection reconfigurationmessage may identify target base station 415 or target base station 420that UE 405 is to perform a handover procedure with to establish the newcommunication link. Accordingly, UE 405 may perform a handover procedurewith the target base station identified in the connectionreconfiguration message to establish the new communication link inresponse to the QoE variable(s) failing to satisfy the correspondingthreshold (e.g., QoE constraint).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a process 500 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. In some examples, process 500 may be implemented byor may implement aspects of wireless communications systems 100 and/or200 and/or processes 300 and/or 400. Aspects of process 500 may beimplemented by UE 505 and/or serving base station 510, which may beexamples of corresponding devices described herein.

UE 505 may include an application layer 515 and an access stratum 520,which may also be examples of corresponding devices described herein.That is, the access stratum 520 may be implemented at the applicationlayer 515 and/or may be in communication with, or otherwise associatedwith, the application layer 515.

Generally, UE 505 and serving base station 510 may establish acommunication link. The communication link may be established during aninitial access procedure, a cell reselection procedure, or the like. Thecommunication link may be configured with various time, frequency,spatial, code, etc., resources used for performing communicationsbetween UE 505 and serving base station 510.

UE 505 may measure a set of QoE variables at the application layer 515.The set of QoE variables may be associated the performance of a servicetype over the communication link between UE 505 and serving base station510. UE 505 may also identify a set of RRM variables at the accessstratum of UE 505. The set of RRM variables measured at the accessstratum may be associated with the communication link between UE 505 andserving base station 510. Additionally or alternatively, the set of RRMvariables identified at the access stratum may be associated withcommunication links between UE 505 and a set of one or more neighboringbase stations available for UE 505 to potentially connect to in order toestablish a new communication link should the communication link betweenUE 505 and serving base station 510 fall below an acceptable performancethreshold.

Broadly, process 500 includes techniques for utilizing the converted QoEvariables for link optimizations and mobility robustness. For example,serving base station 510 may configure UE 505 to measure and report theset of QoE variables for mobility purposes. Serving base station 510 maytransmit a measurement request to UE 505 that indicates or otherwiseidentifies the QoE variables to include in the set of QoE variables,with the identified QoE variables being measured and reported by UE 505for link management and mobility. The QoE measurements may be utilizedfor the selection of target base stations, for admission control of thetarget base stations, as the handover trigger in a CHO scenario, or thelike.

As discussed above, in some examples this may include a Q1 event triggerbeing defined to initiate a handover procedure in order to meet orotherwise achieve a desirable QoE (e.g., to satisfy a QoE constraint).The Q1 event trigger may be configured by serving base station 510 to UE505 using RRC signaling (e.g., conveying a ReportConfigNR IE) or withinthe application layer container.

For example, UE 505 may (e.g., at application layer 515) determine thatone or more QoE variables failed to satisfy a threshold (e.g., acorresponding QoE constraint). This may be for one, some, or all of theQoE variables in the set of QoE variables. Based on this determinationthat the QoE variable(s) have failed to satisfy the threshold, UE 505may provide a signal to the access stratum 520 indicating that the Q1triggering event has occurred. In some aspects, this indication mayinclude the legacy QoE measurement report, or RAN aware QoE measurementincluding a subset of QoE measurements relevant for RAN optimization orgeneric QoE score (e.g., may include an indication of the set of QoEvariables and/or the summary QoE report).

Accordingly and at 525, the access stratum 520 may determine that the Q1triggering event condition has been met. For example, the access stratum520 may compare the set of QoE variable(s) indicated in the QoEmeasurement report to the corresponding thresholds, and determine the Q1triggering event for the handover procedure has occurred based on thecomparison.

At 530, the access stratum 520 may perform RRM measurements to identifyor otherwise determine that RRM variables for the communication linkbetween UE 505 and serving base station 510 and/or for communicationlink(s) between UE 505 and neighboring target base station(s). The RRMvariables may indicate that the communication link between UE 505 andserving base station 510 satisfy or may not satisfy a performancethreshold. The RRM variables may indicate that the communication link(s)between UE 505 and the neighboring target base station(s) satisfy or maynot satisfy a performance threshold. The RRM variables for anycommunication links may be used in conjunction with the QoE variables todetermine whether the handover procedure is to be performed. That is,rather than consider only the RRM measurements when making linkoptimization and/or handover decisions, the set of QoE variablesprovided by application layer 515 are also considered when making suchdecision. In some examples, this may include the access stratum 520deciding to perform a handover procedure based on QoE variables failingto satisfy performance thresholds, even in the situation where some orall of the RRM variables for the communication link(s) satisfycorresponding performance thresholds. In response and at 535, the accessstratum 520 of UE 505 may transmit a measurement report to serving basestation 510. That is, the access stratum 520 may determine that the Q1triggering event has occurred, and therefore provide an indication tothe application layer 515 and/or the access stratum of UE 505 that theQ1 triggering event has occurred. Accordingly, the application layer 515and/or the access stratum of UE 505 may configure and transmit themeasurement report to serving base station 510. In some aspects, themeasurement report may carry or otherwise convey an indication of theset of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables. Accordingly, the QoEreport (e.g., the measurement report) may be used by the serving basestation 410 for a handover decision.

Accordingly, serving base station 510 may determine that the Q1triggering event occurred for UE 505, and therefore initiate a handoverprocedure (e.g., a CHO) of UE 505 to a target base station in the set ofone or more target base stations. For example, serving base station 510may perform a resource request/response exchange with the target basestations in the set of target base stations, which may result with ahandover request/response exchange between serving base station 510 andtarget base station(s) having a capability satisfying the QoE constraintof UE 505, e.g., on the QoE constraint and set of QoE variablesindicated to the target base station(s) in the resource and/or handoverrequests.

Accordingly, at 540 serving base station 510 may transmit or otherwiseconvey a connection reconfiguration message (e.g., anRRCConnectionReconfiguration message) to UE 505 that identifies thetarget base station to perform the handover procedure with to establisha new communication link. For example, the connection reconfigurationmessage may identify the specific target base station (e.g., indicate acell identifier of the target base station) that UE 505 is to perform ahandover procedure with to establish the new communication link.However, as the handover procedure is conditional to this point, aspectsof the described techniques permit UE 505 to make the handover decisionbased on the connection reconfiguration message. For example, at 545 theapplication layer 515 may continue to report that the QoE variable(s) inthe set of variables fail to satisfy the threshold. For example, theapplication layer 515 may determine that the QoE variable(s) continue toworsen, remain the same, or has improved since initially indicating theQ1 triggering event has occurred. If the application layer 515determines that the QoE variable(s) have improved and are approaching orwithin a threshold of satisfying the threshold, application layer 515may determine that the Q1 triggering event is no longer occurring.Conversely, if the application layer 515 determines that the QoEvariable(s) are the same and/or have worsened, application layer 515 maydetermine that the Q1 triggering event is still occurring. In thissituation, at 550 application layer 515 may transmit or otherwiseprovide an indication that the Q1 triggering event has occurred toaccess stratum 520.

At 555, the access stratum 520 may determine that, based on theindication of the Q1 triggering event occurring, that the handoverprocedure is warranted. Accordingly, UE 505 may execute the connectionreconfiguration message received from serving base station 510 to beginperformance of the handover procedure to establish a new communicationlink. Accordingly, UE 505 may perform a handover procedure with thetarget base station identified in the connection reconfiguration messageto establish the new communication link in response to the QoEvariable(s) continuing to fail to satisfy the corresponding threshold(e.g., QoE constraint).

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process 600 that supports quality ofexperience measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, process 600 may beimplemented by or may implement aspects of wireless communicationssystems 100 and/or 200 and/or processes 300, 400, and/or 500. Aspects ofprocess 600 may be implemented by OAM 605, serving base station 610,and/or UE 615, which may be examples of corresponding devices describedherein. UE 615 may include an access stratum 620 and/or an applicationlayer 630, which may also be examples of corresponding devices describedherein.

UE 615 and serving base station 610 may establish a communication link.The communication link may be established during a procedure, such as aninitial access procedure, a cell reselection procedure, or the like. Thecommunication link may be configured with various time, frequency,spatial, code, etc., resources used for performing communicationsbetween UE 615 and serving base station 610.

At 605, OAM 605 may transmit or otherwise convey an indication of a QoEconfiguration to UE 615. For example, OAM 605 may identify various QoEvariables to be obtained or otherwise identified and used for, inaddition to various application layer optimizations, communication linkoptimizations and/or handover. For example, the QoE configuration may betransmitted or otherwise provided to serving base station 610 via awireless link and/or a backhaul link between OAM 605 (e.g., the OAMfunction of the core network) and serving base station 610. Serving basestation 610 may transmit or otherwise provide the QoE configuration toUE 615, which may provide the QoE configuration to the varioussublayers/functions of UE 615.

At 640, UE 615 may measure a set of QoE variables at the applicationlayer 630 based on the QoE configuration received from OAM. For example,the application layer 630 may measure the QoE variables used forapplication layer optimizations as well as QoE variables (e.g., a subsetof the QoE variables that may be relevant for link optimization and/orhandover) indicated in the QoE configuration. The set of QoE variablesmay be associated with the service type configured at the applicationlayer of the UE. Examples of the QoE variables may include, but are notlimited to, a cell identifier of serving base station 610, a servicetype of application being utilized by application(s) operating at theapplication layer 630), an average application layer throughput rate, anaverage application layer RTT measurement, an average application layerjitter, an average application layer to operate, and/or failure ratesfor the application layer throughput rate, RTT measurement, jitter rate,packet drop rate, etc. For example, application layer 630 may monitorsuch variables for instantaneous and/or averaged measurements to satisfya QoE constraint of UE 615 (e.g., a QoE need or requested QoE usage ofUE 615).

UE 615 may also measure a set of RRM variables at the access stratum 620based on RRM configuration received from serving base station. The setof RRM variables identified at the RAN layer 620 may be associated withthe communication link between UE 615 and serving base station 610.Additionally or alternatively, the set of RRM variables identified atthe access stratum 620 may be associated with communication linksbetween UE 615 and a set of one or more target base stations availablefor UE 615 to potentially connect to in order to establish a newcommunication link should the communication link between UE 615 andserving base station 610 falling below an acceptable performancethreshold. Example RRM variables in the set of RRM variables mayinclude, but are not limited to, a cell identifier of serving basestation 610, a service type, RSRP, RSSI, SINR, CQI, a throughput rateobserved at the access stratum 320, an RTT observed at the accessstratum 320, a jitter rate observed at the access stratum 320, a packetdrop rate observed at the access stratum 320, and the like.

In some aspects, corresponding variables between the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables may have different values. Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate observed atthe application layer 630 may be different than the instantaneous and/oraveraged throughput rate observed at the access stratum 620. As anotherexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitter rate,packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the application layer 630 maybe different than the instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement,jitter rate, packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the accessstratum 620.

Broadly, process 600 includes techniques for conversion of the QoEmeasurements (e.g., the set of QoE variables) into a format readable bythe access stratum of the UE 620, and RAN (e.g., into a multi-layerreadable format). In the option illustrated in FIG. 6 , the applicationlayer 630 converts the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables into aRAN readable format. That is, UE 615 may convert the RAN readable QoEmeasurements.

Generally, conversion of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variablesinto a RAN readable format may include converting the actual QoEmeasurements of the QoE variables into corresponding RRC variables(e.g., convert a QoE throughput rate into a corresponding RRM throughputrate format). In some examples, conversion of the QoE variables in theset of QoE variables into the RAN readable format may include convertingthe actual QoE measurements of the QoE variables into informationindicative of the measurement(s) (e.g., convert a service type QoEvariable into a QoE constraint applicable to the various sub layers ofthe access stratum 630), or sending a subset of QoE variables to accessstratum 620 from the application, or providing a generic score for theapplication QoE to the access stratum 620 of the UE.

In some examples, conversion of the QoE measurements of the QoEvariables into a RAN readable format may include conversion of the QoEvariables and/or information indicative of the QoE variables, into aformat readable by particular sublayers of the access stratum 620. Forexample, some QoE variables identified at the application layer 630 maybe converted into a format readable by the physical sublayer, an RLCsublayer, an RRC sublayer, or the like.

UE 615 may maintain (e.g., be configured with which QoEmeasurements/variables are to be identified by serving base station 610)QoE variables to obtain different QoE measurements, such as servicetype, average application layer QoE performance, the percentage of timethe QoE metrics (e.g., QoE constraints) are violated, or the like, oroverall satisfaction level of QoE at the application layer. For example,application layer 630 of UE 615 may transfer the set of QoE variables tothe access stratum 620 in a format readable by the UE access stratum620, and RAN. In this option, the access stratum 620 may transmit themeasurement report (discussed below) to serving base station 610 thatindicates the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables and/orinformation indicative of/or otherwise associated with the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables.

Accordingly, at 645 the application layer 630 of the UE 615 may providean indication of the set of QoE variables to the access stratum 620. Theindication of the set of QoE variables may be provided in a formatreadable by the access stratum 620. At 655, the access stratum 620 maytransmit or otherwise provide the measurement report to serving basestation 610 indicating information associated with the set of QoEvariables and the RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. Thatis, the measurement report may carry or otherwise indicate the set ofQoE variables and/or the summary QoE report in addition to the set ofRRM variables.

At 660, UE 615 and serving base station 610 may adjust or otherwisemodify the communication link between UE 615 and serving base station610. For example, this may include adjusting various communicationparameters configured for the communication link (e.g., such as MCS,bandwidth, transmit power level(s), latency adjustments, reliabilityadjustments, etc., to provide link optimizations). In some aspects, thismay include adjusting various handover procedure parameters (e.g.,adjusting the levels of QoE and/or RRM variables that trigger a handoverprocedure of UE 615 to a target base station to establish a newcommunication link).

In some aspects, this adjusting may include performing a handoverprocedure of UE 615 from serving base station 610 to establish a newcommunication link with a target base station.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a process 700 that supports quality ofexperience measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, process 700 may beimplemented by or may implement aspects of wireless communicationssystems 100 and/or 200 and/or processes 300, 400, 500 and/or 600.Aspects of process 700 may be implemented by OAM 705, serving basestation 710, and/or UE 715, which may be examples of correspondingdevices described herein. UE 715 may include an access stratum 720and/or an application layer 730, which may also be examples ofcorresponding devices described herein.

UE 715 and serving base station 710 may establish a communication link.The communication link may be established during a procedure, such as aninitial access procedure, a cell reselection procedure, or the like. Thecommunication link may be configured with various time, frequency,spatial, code, etc., resources used for performing communicationsbetween UE 715 and serving base station 710.

At 735, OAM 705 may transmit or otherwise convey an indication of a QoEconfiguration to UE 715. For example, OAM 705 may identify various QoEvariables to be obtained or otherwise identified and used for, inaddition to various application layer optimizations, communication linkoptimizations and/or handover. For example, the QoE configuration may betransmitted or otherwise provided to serving base station 710 via awireless link and/or a backhaul link between OAM 705 (e.g., the OAMfunction of the core network) and serving base station 710. Serving basestation 710 may transmit or otherwise provide the QoE configuration toUE 715, which may provide the QoE configuration to the varioussublayers/functions of UE 715.

At 740, UE 715 may measure a set of QoE variables at the applicationlayer 730 based on the QoE configuration received from OAM. For example,the application layer 730 may measure the QoE variables used forapplication layer optimizations as well as QoE variables (e.g., a subsetof the QoE variables that may be relevant for link optimization and/orhandover) indicated in the QoE configuration. The set of QoE variablesmay be associated with the communication link between UE 715 and servingbase station 710. Examples of the QoE variables may include, but are notlimited to, a service type (e.g., type of service(s) being utilized byapplication(s) operating at the application layer 730), an averageapplication layer throughput rate, an average application layer RTTmeasurement, an average application layer jitter, an average applicationlayer to operate, and/or failure rates for the application layerthroughput rate, RTT measurement, jitter rate, packet drop rate, etc.For example, application layer 730 may monitor such variables forinstantaneous and/or averaged measurements to satisfy a QoE constraintof UE 715 (e.g., a QoE need or requested QoE usage of UE 715).

UE 715 may also identify a set of RRM variables at the access stratum720. The set of RRM variables identified at the access stratum 720 maybe associated with the communication link between UE 715 and servingbase station 710. Additionally or alternatively, the set of RRMvariables identified at the access stratum 720 may be associated withcommunication links between UE 715 and a set of one or more neighboringbase stations available for UE 715 to potentially connect to in order toestablish a new communication link should the communication link betweenUE 715 and serving base station 710 falling below an acceptableperformance threshold. Example RRM variables in the set of RRM variablesmay include, but are not limited to, a cell identifier of serving basestation 710, a service type, RSRP, RSSI, SINR, CQI, a throughput rateobserved at the access stratum 720, an RTT observed at the accessstratum 720, a jitter rate observed at the access stratum 720, a packetdrop rate observed at the access stratum 720, and the like.

In some aspects, corresponding variables between the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables may have different values. Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate observed atthe application layer 730 may be different than the instantaneous and/oraveraged throughput rate observed at the access stratum 720. As anotherexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitter rate,packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the application layer 730 maybe different than the instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement,jitter rate, packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the accessstratum 720.

Broadly, process 700 includes techniques for conversion of the QoEmeasurements (e.g., the set of QoE variables) into a format readable bythe access stratum 720 and RAN (e.g., into a multi-layer readableformat). In the option illustrated in FIG. 7 , the application layer 730converts the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables into a summaryreport to be provided to the access stratum 720, e.g., in a RAN readableformat. That is, UE 715 may convert the RAN readable QoE measurements.

Generally, conversion of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variablesinto a RAN readable format may include converting the actual QoEmeasurements of the QoE variables into corresponding RRC variables(e.g., convert a QoE throughput rate into a corresponding RRM throughputrate format). In some examples, conversion of the QoE variables in theset of QoE variables into the RAN readable format may include convertingthe actual QoE measurements of the QoE variables into informationindicative of the measurement(s) (e.g., convert a service type QoEvariable into a QoE constraint applicable to the various sub layers ofthe access stratum 720), or sending a subset of QoE variables to accessstratum 620 from the application, or providing a generic score for theapplication QoE to the access stratum 620 of the UE.

In some examples, conversion of the QoE measurements of the QoEvariables into a RAN readable format may include conversion of the QoEvariables and/or information indicative of the QoE variables, into aformat readable by particular sublayers of the access stratum 720. Forexample, some QoE variables identified at the application layer 730 maybe converted into a format readable by the physical sublayer, an RLCsublayer, an RRC sublayer, or the like.

UE 715 may maintain (e.g., be configured with which QoEmeasurements/variables are to be identified by serving base station 710)QoE variables to obtain different QoE measurements, such as servicetype, average application layer QoE performance, the percentage of timethe QoE metrics (e.g., QoE constraints) are violated, or the like. Forexample, application layer 730 of UE 715 may transfer the set of QoEvariables to the access stratum 720 in a format readable by the accessstratum 720. In this option, the access stratum 720 may transmit themeasurement report (discussed below) to serving base station 710 thatindicates the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables and/orinformation indicative of/or otherwise associated with the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables.

At 745, the access stratum 720 may determine that a triggering event hasoccurred. For example, the access stratum 720 may determine that the RRMvariable(s) have deteriorated to a point where the RRM variable(s) failto satisfy a performance threshold. Accordingly, at 750 the accessstratum 720 may transmit, transfer, or otherwise provide a signal to theapplication layer 730 requesting the application layer 730 to package aQoE summary (RAN aware QoE) report. In response, at 755 the applicationlayer 730 may generate or otherwise package a QoE summary report basedon the QoE variables identified, monitored, or otherwise maintained atthe application layer 730. This may include the application layer 730identifying or otherwise selecting a subset of QoE variables indicatedin the QoE configuration. The application layer 730 may generate the QoEsummary report based on the QoE variable(s), e.g., may generate the QoEsummary report based on information in the QoE variable(s).

Accordingly, at 760 the application layer 730 of the UE 715 may providean indication of the QoE summary report to the access stratum 720. Theindication of the QoE summary report may be provided in a formatreadable by the access stratum 720 at the UE and RAN (e.g. serving basestation). At 765, the access stratum 720 may transmit or otherwiseprovide the measurement report to serving base station 710 indicatinginformation associated with the set of QoE variables (e.g., based on theQoE summary report—RAN aware QoE) and the RRM variables in a multi-layerreadable format. That is, the measurement report may carry or otherwiseindicate the set of QoE variables and/or the summary QoE report inaddition to the set of RRM variables.

At 770, UE 715 and serving base station 710 may adjust or otherwisemodify the communication link between UE 715 and serving base station710. For example, this may include adjusting various communicationparameters configured for the communication link (e.g., such as MCS,bandwidth, transmit power level(s), latency adjustments, reliabilityadjustments, etc., to provide link optimizations). In some aspects, thismay include adjusting various handover procedure parameters (e.g.,adjusting the levels of QoE and/or RRM variables that trigger a handoverprocedure of UE 715 to a target base station to establish a newcommunication link).

In some aspects, this adjusting may include performing a handoverprocedure of UE 715 from serving base station 710 to establish a newcommunication link with a target base station.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process 800 that supports quality ofexperience measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, process 800 may beimplemented by or may implement aspects of wireless communicationssystems 100 and/or 200 and/or processes 300, 400, 500, 600 and/or 700.Aspects of process 800 may be implemented by OAM 805, serving basestation 810, and/or UE 815, which may be examples of correspondingdevices described herein. UE 815 may include an access stratum 820and/or an application layer 830, which may also be examples ofcorresponding devices described herein.

UE 815 and serving base station 810 may establish a communication link.The communication link may be established during a procedure, such as aninitial access procedure, a cell reselection procedure, or the like. Thecommunication link may be configured with various time, frequency,spatial, code, etc., resources used for performing communicationsbetween UE 815 and serving base station 810.

At 835, OAM 805 may transmit or otherwise convey an indication of a QoEconfiguration to UE 815. For example, OAM 805 may identify various QoEvariables to be obtained or otherwise identified and used for, inaddition to various application layer optimizations, communication linkoptimizations and/or handover. For example, the QoE configuration may betransmitted or otherwise provided to serving base station 810 via awireless link and/or a backhaul link between OAM 805 (e.g., the OAMfunction of the core network) and serving base station 810. Serving basestation 810 may transmit or otherwise provide the QoE configuration toUE 815, which may provide the QoE configuration to the varioussublayers/functions of UE 815.

At 840, UE 815 may measure a set of QoE variables at the applicationlayer 830 based on the QoE configuration received from OAM. For example,the application layer 830 may measure the QoE variables used forapplication layer optimizations as well as QoE variables (e.g., a subsetof the QoE variables that may be relevant for link optimization and/orhandover) indicated in the QoE configuration. The set of QoE variablesmay be associated with a service type. Examples of the QoE variables mayinclude, but are not limited to, a service type for service becommunicated over the communication link (e.g., type of service(s) beingutilized by application(s) operating at the application layer 830), anaverage application layer throughput rate, an average application layerRTT measurement, an average application layer jitter, an averageapplication layer to operate, and/or failure rates for the applicationlayer throughput rate, RTT measurement, jitter rate, packet drop rate,etc. For example, application layer 830 may monitor such variables forinstantaneous and/or averaged measurements to satisfy a QoE constraintof UE 815 (e.g., a QoE need or requested QoE usage of UE 815).

UE 815 may also measure a set of RRM variables at the access stratum820. The set of RRM variables identified at the access stratum 820 maybe associated with the communication link between UE 815 and servingbase station 810. Additionally or alternatively, the set of RRMvariables identified at the access stratum 820 may be associated withcommunication links between UE 815 and a set of one or more target basestations available for UE 815 to potentially connect to in order toestablish a new communication link should the communication link betweenUE 815 and serving base station 810 falling below an acceptableperformance threshold. Example RRM variables in the set of RRM variablesmay include, but are not limited to, a cell identifier of serving basestation 810, a service type, RSRP, RSSI, SINR, CQI, a throughput rateobserved at the access stratum 820, an RTT observed at the accessstratum 820, a jitter rate observed at the access stratum 820, a packetdrop rate observed at the access stratum 820, and the like.

In some aspects, corresponding variables between the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables may have different values. Forexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged throughput rate observed atthe application layer 830 may be different than the instantaneous and/oraveraged throughput rate observed at the access stratum 820. As anotherexample, an instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement, jitter rate,packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the application layer 830 maybe different than the instantaneous and/or averaged RTT measurement,jitter rate, packet drop rate, or the like, observed at the accessstratum 820.

Broadly, process 800 includes techniques for conversion of the QoEmeasurements (e.g., the set of QoE variables) into a format readable bythe access stratum 820 of the UE and RAN (e.g., into a multi-layerreadable format). In the option illustrated in FIG. 8 , the applicationlayer 830 converts the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables into aQoE report (e.g., a report indicating the set of QoE variables) to beprovided to the access stratum 820, e.g., in a RAN readable format. Thatis, UE 815 may convert the RAN readable QoE measurements.

Generally, conversion of the QoE variables in the set of QoE variablesinto a RAN readable format may include converting the actual QoEmeasurements of the QoE variables into corresponding RRC variables(e.g., convert a QoE throughput rate into a corresponding RRM throughputrate format). In some examples, conversion of the QoE variables in theset of QoE variables into the RAN readable format may include convertingthe actual QoE measurements of the QoE variables into informationindicative of the measurement(s) (e.g., convert a service type QoEvariable into a QoE constraint applicable to the various sub layers ofthe access stratum 820), or sending a subset of QoE variables to accessstratum 620 from the application, or providing a generic score for theapplication QoE to the access stratum 620 of the UE.

In some examples, conversion of the QoE measurements of the QoEvariables into a RAN readable format may include conversion of the QoEvariables and/or information indicative of the QoE variables, into aformat readable by particular sublayers of the access stratum 820. Forexample, some QoE variables identified at the application layer 830 maybe converted into a format readable by the physical sublayer, an RLCsublayer, an RRC sublayer, or the like.

UE 815 may maintain (e.g., be configured with which QoEmeasurements/variables are to be identified by serving base station 810)QoE variables to obtain different QoE measurements, such as servicetype, average application layer QoE performance, the percentage of timethe QoE metrics (e.g., QoE constraints) are violated, or the like. Forexample, application layer 830 of UE 815 may transfer the set of QoEvariables to the access stratum 820 in a format readable by the accessstratum 820. In this option, the access stratum 820 may transmit themeasurement report (discussed below) to serving base station 810 thatindicates the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variables and/orinformation indicative of/or otherwise associated with the set of QoEvariables and the set of RRM variables.

At 845, the access stratum 820 may determine that a triggering event hasoccurred. For example, the access stratum 820 may determine that the RRMvariable(s) have deteriorated to a point where the RRM variable(s) failto satisfy a performance threshold. Accordingly, at 850 the accessstratum 820 may transmit, transfer, or otherwise provide a signal to theapplication layer 830 requesting the application layer 830 to package aQoE report (e.g., a report indicating the set of QoE variables). Inresponse, at 855 the application layer 830 may generate or otherwisepackage a QoE report based on the QoE variables identified, monitored,or otherwise maintained at the application layer 830. This may includethe application layer 830 identifying or otherwise selecting a subset ofQoE variables indicated in the QoE configuration. The application layer830 may generate the QoE report based on the QoE variable(s), e.g., maygenerate the QoE report based on information in the QoE variable(s).

Accordingly, at 860 the application layer 830 of the UE 815 may providean indication of the QoE report (e.g., may report the set of QoEvariables) to the access stratum 820. The indication of the QoE reportmay be provided in a format readable by the access stratum 820. At 865,the access stratum 820 may transmit or otherwise provide the measurementreport to serving base station 810 indicating information associatedwith the set of QoE variables (e.g., based on the QoE report) and theRRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. That is, the measurementreport may carry or otherwise indicate the set of QoE variables inaddition to the set of RRM variables.

At 870, UE 815 and serving base station 810 may adjust or otherwisemodify the communication link between UE 815 and serving base station810. For example, this may include adjusting various communicationparameters configured for the communication link (e.g., such as MCS,bandwidth, transmit power level(s), latency adjustments, reliabilityadjustments, etc., to provide link optimizations). In some aspects, thismay include adjusting various handover procedure parameters (e.g.,adjusting the levels of QoE and/or RRM variables that trigger a handoverprocedure of UE 815 to a target base station to establish a newcommunication link).

In some aspects, this adjusting may include performing a handoverprocedure of UE 815 from serving base station 810 to establish a newcommunication link with a target base station.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a UE115 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, acommunications manager 915, and a transmitter 920. The device 905 mayalso include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness, etc.). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1220 described with reference toFIG. 12 . The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

The communications manager 915 may establish a communication linkbetween the UE and a serving base station. The communications manager915 may identify, at an application layer of the UE, a set of QoEvariables associated with a service type. The communications manager 915may identify, at an access stratum of the UE, a set of RRM variablesassociated with the communication link between the UE and the servingbase station and a communication link between the UE and a correspondingset of one or more target base stations associated with thecommunication links. The communications manager 915 may transmit ameasurement report to the serving base station indicating informationassociated with the QoE variables and the RRM variables in a multi-layerreadable format. The communications manager 915 may be an example ofaspects of the communications manager 1210 described herein.

The communications manager 915, or its sub-components, may beimplemented in hardware, code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by aprocessor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executedby a processor, the functions of the communications manager 915, or itssub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed in the present disclosure.

The communications manager 915, or its sub-components, may be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations byone or more physical components. In some examples, the communicationsmanager 915, or its sub-components, may be a separate and distinctcomponent in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.In some examples, the communications manager 915, or its sub-components,may be combined with one or more other hardware components, includingbut not limited to an input/output (I/O) component, a transceiver, anetwork server, another computing device, one or more other componentsdescribed in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

The transmitter 920 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 905. In some examples, the transmitter 920 may becollocated with a receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 920 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1220described with reference to FIG. 12 . The transmitter 920 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of adevice 905, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 1005 may includea receiver 1010, a communications manager 1015, and a transmitter 1040.The device 1005 may also include a processor. Each of these componentsmay be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 1010 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness, etc.). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 1005. The receiver 1010 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1220 described with reference toFIG. 12 . The receiver 1010 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

The communications manager 1015 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 915 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 1015 may include a communication link manager 1020, a QoEvariable manager 1025, an RRM variable manager 1030, and a measurementreport manager 1035. The communications manager 1015 may be an exampleof aspects of the communications manager 1210 described herein.

The communication link manager 1020 may establish a communication linkbetween the UE and a serving base station.

The QoE variable manager 1025 may identify, at an application layer ofthe UE, a set of QoE variables associated with different service typesboth for application layer optimizations and RAN optimizations.

The RRM variable manager 1030 may identify, at the access stratum of theUE, a set of RRM variables associated with the communication linkbetween the UE and the serving base station and a communication linkbetween the UE and a corresponding set of one or more target basestations associated with the communication links.

The measurement report manager 1035 may transmit a measurement report tothe serving base station indicating information associated with the QoEvariables and the RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format.

The transmitter 1040 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1005. In some examples, the transmitter 1040 may becollocated with a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1040 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1220 described with reference to FIG. 12 . The transmitter 1040 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a communications manager 1105 thatsupports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1105 maybe an example of aspects of a communications manager 915, acommunications manager 1015, or a communications manager 1210 describedherein. The communications manager 1105 may include a communication linkmanager 1110, a QoE variable manager 1115, an RRM variable manager 1120,a measurement report manager 1125, a QoE indication manager 1130, a QoEsummary indication manager 1135, a measurement request manager 1140, acommunication link adjustment manager 1145, a handover manager 1150, acommunication parameter manager 1155, and an access stratum manager1160. Each of these modules may communicate, directly or indirectly,with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The communication link manager 1110 may establish a communication linkbetween the UE and a serving base station.

The QoE variable manager 1115 may identify, at an application layer ofthe UE, a set of QoE variables associated with different service types.In some cases, the QoE variables in the set of QoE variables include oneor more of a cell identifier of the serving base station, or a servicetype for a service being communicated over the communication link, or anaverage application layer throughput rate, or an average applicationlayer round-trip-time measurement, or an average application layerjitter, or an average application layer packet drop rate, or a failurerate of the application layer throughput rate, or a failure rate of theapplication layer round-trip-time variable, or a failure rate of theapplication layer jitter, or a failure rate of the application layerpacket drop rate.

The RRM variable manager 1120 may identify, at the access stratum of theUE, a set of RRM variables associated with the communication linkbetween the UE and the serving base station and a communication linkbetween the UE and a corresponding set of one or more target basestations associated with the communication links.

The measurement report manager 1125 may transmit a measurement report tothe serving base station indicating information associated with the QoEvariables and the RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format.

The QoE indication manager 1130 may transfer, from the application layerof the UE to the access stratum of the UE, the set of QoE variables in aformat readable by the access stratum and RAN.

The QoE summary indication manager 1135 may generate a summary of theset of QoE variables to obtain a summary QoE report (e.g., RAN aware QoEmetrics) or obtain a generic score for the satisfaction of QoE. In someexamples, configuring, at the application layer of the UE, themeasurement report to indicate the summary QoE report (e.g., RAN awareQoE metrics) or obtain a generic score for the satisfaction of QoE andthe set of RRM variables in a format readable by the access stratum ofthe UE and the serving base station.

The measurement request manager 1140 may receive a measurement requestfrom the base station indicating the QoE variables to include in the setof QoE variables, where identifying the set of QoE variables is based onthe measurement request, where the measurement report is transmittedbased on the measurement request.

The communication link adjustment manager 1145 may adjust, in responseto the measurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station.

The handover manager 1150 may perform, based on the set of QoEvariables, a handover procedure of the UE from the serving base stationto establish a new communication link with a target base station fromthe set of target base stations. In some examples, the handover manager1150 may determine that the set of QoE variables fail to satisfy athreshold, where transmitting the measurement report is based on thedetermining. In some examples, the handover manager 1150 may receive,based on transmitting the measurement report, a connectionreconfiguration message identifying the target base station to performthe handover procedure to establish the new communication link.

The communication parameter manager 1155 may adjust one or morecommunication parameters configured for the communication link betweenthe UE and the serving base station and one or more handover parametersfor a handover procedure of the UE from the serving base station toestablish a new communication link with a target base station from theset of one or more target base stations.

The access stratum manager 1160 may identify at least a portion of thequality of experience variables, at the access stratum of the UE, wherethe set of quality of experience variables indicated in the measurementreport is based on the portion of the quality of experience variables.In some examples, identifying, at the access stratum of the UE, asummary quality of experience report (RAN aware QoE metrics) or obtaingeneric score for the satisfaction of QoE based on the set of quality ofexperience variables, where the set of quality of experience variablesindicated in the measurement report includes the summary quality ofexperience report (RAN aware QoE metrics) or obtain generic score forthe satisfaction of QoE.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 thatsupports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example ofor include the components of device 905, device 1005, or a UE 115 asdescribed herein. The device 1205 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a communicationsmanager 1210, an I/O controller 1215, a transceiver 1220, an antenna1225, memory 1230, and a processor 1240. These components may be inelectronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1245).

The communications manager 1210 may establish a communication linkbetween the UE and a serving base station. The communications manager1210 may identify, at an application layer of the UE, a set of QoEvariables associated with different service types. The communicationsmanager 1210 may identify, at the access stratum of the UE, a set of RRMvariables associated with the communication link between the UE and theserving base station and a communication link between the UE and acorresponding set of one or more target base stations associated withthe communication links. The communications manager 1210 may transmit ameasurement report to the serving base station indicating informationassociated with the QoE variables and the RRM variables in a multi-layerreadable format.

The I/O controller 1215 may manage input and output signals for thedevice 1205. The I/O controller 1215 may also manage peripherals notintegrated into the device 1205. In some cases, the I/O controller 1215may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral.In some cases, the I/O controller 1215 may utilize an operating systemsuch as iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, oranother known operating system. In other cases, the I/O controller 1215may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 1215may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user mayinteract with the device 1205 via the I/O controller 1215 or viahardware components controlled by the I/O controller 1215.

The transceiver 1220 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1220 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1220 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1225.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1225,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

The memory 1230 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 1230 may store computer-readable,computer-executable code 1235 including instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to perform various functions describedherein. In some cases, the memory 1230 may contain, among other things,a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such asthe interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The processor 1240 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 1240 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In other cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into the processor 1240. The processor 1240 may beconfigured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory(e.g., the memory 1230) to cause the device 1205 to perform variousfunctions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting QoE measurements formobility robustness).

The code 1235 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1235 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some cases, the code 1235 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1240 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a device 1305 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of aspects of abase station 105 as described herein. The device 1305 may include areceiver 1310, a communications manager 1315, and a transmitter 1320.The device 1305 may also include a processor. Each of these componentsmay be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 1310 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness, etc.). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 1305. The receiver 1310 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1620 described with reference toFIG. 16 . The receiver 1310 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

When device 1005 is a serving base station, the communications manager1315 may establish a communication link with a UE, receive a measurementreport from the UE indicating information associated with a set of QoEvariables and a set of RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format,and adjust, in response to the measurement report, the communicationlink between the UE and the serving base station.

When device 1005 is a target base station, the communications manager1315 may also receive a resource status request from a serving basestation of a UE, the resource status request indicating a QoE constraintof the UE and a set of QoE variables of the UE, transmit a resourcestatus response to the serving base station indicating an ability tosupport the QoE constraint of the UE, and determine, based on the set ofQoE variables, that the target base station's capability in satisfyingthe QoE constraint of the UE. The communications manager 1315 may be anexample of aspects of the communications manager 1610 described herein.

The communications manager 1315, or its sub-components, may beimplemented in hardware, code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by aprocessor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executedby a processor, the functions of the communications manager 1315, or itssub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, anASIC, a FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described in the presentdisclosure.

The communications manager 1315, or its sub-components, may bephysically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations by one or more physical components. In some examples, thecommunications manager 1315, or its sub-components, may be a separateand distinct component in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, the communications manager 1315, or itssub-components, may be combined with one or more other hardwarecomponents, including but not limited to an I/O component, atransceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or moreother components described in the present disclosure, or a combinationthereof in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

The transmitter 1320 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1305. In some examples, the transmitter 1320 may becollocated with a receiver 1310 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1320 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1620 described with reference to FIG. 16 . The transmitter 1320 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a device 1405 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The device 1405 may be an example of aspects of adevice 1305, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1405may include a receiver 1410, a communications manager 1415, and atransmitter 1440. The device 1405 may also include a processor. Each ofthese components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via oneor more buses).

The receiver 1410 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness, etc.). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 1405. The receiver 1410 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1620 described with reference toFIG. 16 . The receiver 1410 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

The communications manager 1415 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1315 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 1415 may include a communication link manager 1420, ameasurement report manager 1425, a communication link adjustment manager1430, and a resource status manager 1435. The communications manager1415 may be an example of aspects of the communications manager 1610described herein.

The communication link manager 1420 may establish a communication linkwith a UE.

The measurement report manager 1425 may receive a measurement reportfrom the UE indicating information associated with a set of QoEvariables and a set of RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format.

The communication link adjustment manager 1430 may adjust, in responseto the measurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station.

The resource status manager 1435 may receive a resource status requestfrom a serving base station of a UE, the resource status requestindicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variables of theUE and transmit a resource status response to the serving base stationindicating an ability to support the QoE constraint of the UE.

The communication link manager 1420 may determine, based on the set ofQoE variables, that the target base station's capability in satisfyingthe QoE constraint of the UE.

The transmitter 1440 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 1405. In some examples, the transmitter 1440 may becollocated with a receiver 1410 in a transceiver module. For example,the transmitter 1440 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver1620 described with reference to FIG. 16 . The transmitter 1440 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram 1500 of a communications manager 1505 thatsupports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1505 maybe an example of aspects of a communications manager 1315, acommunications manager 1415, or a communications manager 1610 describedherein. The communications manager 1505 may include a communication linkmanager 1510, a measurement report manager 1515, a communication linkadjustment manager 1520, a measurement request manager 1525, a handovermanager 1530, a resource status manager 1535, and a QoE capabilitymanager 1540. Each of these modules may communicate, directly orindirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The communication link manager 1510 may establish a communication linkwith a UE. In some examples, the communication link manager 1510 maydetermine, based on the set of QoE variables, that the target basestations capability in satisfying the QoE constraint of the UE.

The measurement report manager 1515 may receive a measurement reportfrom the UE indicating information associated with a set of QoEvariables and a set of RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format.

The communication link adjustment manager 1520 may adjust, in responseto the measurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station. In some examples, the communication linkadjustment manager 1520 may adjust one or more communication parametersconfigured for the communication link between the UE and the servingbase station.

The resource status manager 1535 may receive a resource status requestfrom a serving base station of a UE, the resource status requestindicating a QoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variables of theUE. In some examples, the resource status manager 1535 may transmit aresource status response to the serving base station indicating anability to support the QoE constraint of the UE.

The measurement request manager 1525 may transmit a measurement requestto the UE indicating the QoE variables to include in the set of QoEvariables, where the measurement report indicating the set of QoEvariables is received in response to the measurement request.

The handover manager 1530 may perform, based on the set of QoEvariables, a handover procedure of the UE from the serving base stationto a target base station for the UE to establish a new communicationlink with the target base station. In some examples, the handovermanager 1530 may determine that the set of QoE variables fail to satisfya threshold. In some examples, the handover manager 1530 may transmit aresource status request to a set of target base stations including thetarget base station indicated in the measurement report, the resourcestatus request indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and the set of QoEvariables of the UE. In some examples, the handover manager 1530 mayreceive a resource status response from the target base stationindicating support of the QoE constraint of the UE. In some examples,the handover manager 1530 may transmit, based on the resource statusresponse, a connection reconfiguration message to the UE identifying thetarget base station to perform the handover procedure to establish thenew communication link.

In some examples, the handover manager 1530 may receive multipleresource status responses from at least a portion of respective targetbase stations of the set of one or more target base stations, eachresource status response indicating a respective ability to support UEQoE for the corresponding target base station. In some examples, thehandover manager 1530 may select a subset of available target basestations from the portion of the respective target base stations of theset of one or more target base stations based on the respective abilityto support the UE QoE constraint. In some examples, the handover manager1530 may select the target base station from the subset of availablebase stations based on the ability to support the UE QoE constraints ofthe target base station and one or more RRM variables of the UE for thetarget base station. In some examples, the handover manager 1530 maytransmit a handover request to the target base station based onselecting the target base station, the handover request indicating thatthe handover procedure of the UE is to be performed to the target basestation. In some examples, the handover manager 1530 may receive ahandover response from the target base station, where the handoverprocedure of the UE is performed with the target base station based onthe handover response.

In some examples, the handover manager 1530 may receive a handoverrequest from the serving base station based on the resource statusresponse indicating support for the QoE requirement of the UE. In someexamples, the handover manager 1530 may transmit a handover response tothe serving base station, where the handover procedure of the UE isperformed with the target base station based on the handover response.

The QoE capability manager 1540 may determine the ability to support UEquality of experience of the target base station, where determining thatthe ability to support quality of experience of the target base stationis determined whether it can satisfy the quality of experienceconstraint of the UE.

FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system 1600 including a device 1605 thatsupports QoE measurements for mobility robustness in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 1605 may be an example ofor include the components of device 1305, device 1405, or a base station105 as described herein. The device 1605 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, including a communicationsmanager 1610, a network communications manager 1615, a transceiver 1620,an antenna 1625, memory 1630, a processor 1640, and an inter-stationcommunications manager 1645. These components may be in electroniccommunication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1650).

When device 1305 is a serving base station, the communications manager1610 may establish a communication link with a UE, receive a measurementreport from the UE indicating information associated with a set of QoEvariables and a set of RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format,and adjust, in response to the measurement report, the communicationlink between the UE and the serving base station.

When device 1305 is a target base station, the communications manager1610 may also receive a resource status request from a serving basestation of a UE, the resource status request indicating a QoE constraintof the UE and a set of QoE variables of the UE, transmit a resourcestatus response to the serving base station indicating an ability tosupport the QoE constraint of the UE, and determine, based on the set ofQoE variables, that the ability of the target base station in satisfyingthe QoE constraint of the UE.

The network communications manager 1615 may manage communications withthe core network (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). Forexample, the network communications manager 1615 may manage the transferof data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

The transceiver 1620 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1620 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1620 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1625.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1625,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

The memory 1630 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. Thememory 1630 may store computer-readable code 1635 including instructionsthat, when executed by a processor (e.g., the processor 1640) cause thedevice to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, thememory 1630 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may controlbasic hardware or software operation such as the interaction withperipheral components or devices.

The processor 1640 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 1640 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In some cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into processor 1640. The processor 1640 may be configuredto execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., thememory 1630) to cause the device 1605 to perform various functions(e.g., functions or tasks supporting QoE measurements for mobilityrobustness).

The inter-station communications manager 1645 may manage communicationswith other base station 105, and may include a controller or schedulerfor controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with otherbase stations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager1645 may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager1645 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunication network technology to provide communication between basestations 105.

The code 1635 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1635 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some cases, the code 1635 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1640 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1700 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1700 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 . In some examples, aUE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

At 1705, the UE may establish a communication link between the UE and aserving base station. The operations of 1705 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1705 may be performed by a communication link manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1710, the UE may measure, at an application layer of the UE, a set ofQoE variables associated with different service types. The operations of1710 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by a QoEvariable manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1715, the UE may measure, at an access stratum of the UE, a set ofRRM variables associated with the communication link between the UE andthe serving base station and a communication link between the UE and acorresponding set of one or more neighboring base stations associatedwith the communication links. The operations of 1715 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1715 may be performed by an RRM variable manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1720, the UE may transmit a measurement report to the serving basestation indicating information associated with the QoE variables and theRRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The operations of 1720may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1720 may be performed by ameasurement report manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12 .

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1800 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 . In some examples, aUE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

At 1805, the UE may establish a communication link between the UE and aserving base station. The operations of 1805 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1805 may be performed by a communication link manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1810, the UE may measure, at an application layer of the UE, a set ofQoE variables associated with different service types. The operations of1810 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1810 may be performed by a QoEvariable manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1815, the UE may transfer, from the application layer of the UE tothe access stratum of the UE, the set of QoE variables in a formatreadable by the RAN. The operations of 1815 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1815 may be performed by a QoE indication manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1820, the UE may measure, at the access stratum of the UE, a set ofRRM variables associated with the communication link between the UE andthe serving base station and a communication link between the UE and acorresponding set of one or more neighboring base stations associatedwith the communication links. The operations of 1820 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1820 may be performed by an RRM variable manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1825, the UE may transmit a measurement report to the serving basestation indicating information associated with the QoE variables and theRRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The operations of 1825may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1825 may be performed by ameasurement report manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12 .

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may be implemented bya UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1900 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 . In some examples, aUE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elementsof the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally oralternatively, a UE may perform aspects of the functions described belowusing special-purpose hardware.

At 1905, the UE may establish a communication link between the UE and aserving base station. The operations of 1905 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1905 may be performed by a communication link manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1910, the UE may measure, at an application layer of the UE, a set ofQoE variables associated with the communication link between the UE andthe serving base station. The operations of 1910 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1910 may be performed by a QoE variable manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1915, the UE may generate a summary of the set of QoE variables(e.g., RAN aware QoE metrics) or obtain a generic score for thesatisfaction of QoE to obtain a summary QoE report. The operations of1915 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1915 may be performed by a QoEsummary indication manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12 .

At 1920, the UE may configure, at the application layer of the UE, themeasurement report to indicate the summary QoE report and the set of RRMvariables in a format readable by the access stratum of the UE and theserving base station. The operations of 1920 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1920 may be performed by a QoE summary indication manageras described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1925, the UE may identify, at the access stratum of the UE, a set ofRRM variables associated with the communication link between the UE andthe serving base station and a communication link between the UE and acorresponding set of one or more neighboring base stations associatedwith the communication links. The operations of 1925 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1925 may be performed by an RRM variable manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12 .

At 1930, the UE may transmit a measurement report to the serving basestation indicating information associated with the QoE variables and theRRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The operations of 1930may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1930 may be performed by ameasurement report manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12 .

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2000 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 . In someexamples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to controlthe functional elements of the base station to perform the functionsdescribed below. Additionally or alternatively, a base station mayperform aspects of the functions described below using special-purposehardware.

At 2005, the base station may establish a communication link with a UE.The operations of 2005 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2005may be performed by a communication link manager as described withreference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

At 2010, the base station may receive a measurement report from the UEindicating information associated with a set of QoE variables and a setof RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The operations of2010 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2010 may be performed by ameasurement report manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13through 16 .

At 2015, the base station may adjust, in response to the measurementreport, the communication link between the UE and the serving basestation. The operations of 2015 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of2015 may be performed by a communication link adjustment manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

FIG. 21 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2100 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2100 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2100 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 . In someexamples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to controlthe functional elements of the base station to perform the functionsdescribed below. Additionally or alternatively, a base station mayperform aspects of the functions described below using special-purposehardware.

At 2105, the base station may establish a communication link with a UE.The operations of 2105 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2105may be performed by a communication link manager as described withreference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

At 2110, the base station may receive a measurement report from the UEindicating information associated with a set of QoE variables and a setof RRM variables in a multi-layer readable format. The operations of2110 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2110 may be performed by ameasurement report manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13through 16 .

At 2115, the base station may adjust, in response to the measurementreport, the communication link between the UE and the serving basestation. The operations of 2115 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of2115 may be performed by a communication link adjustment manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

At 2120, the base station may transmit a measurement request to the UEindicating the QoE variables to include in the set of QoE variables,where the measurement report indicating the set of QoE variables isreceived in response to the measurement request. The operations of 2120may be performed according to the methods described herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 2120 may be performed by ameasurement request manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13through 16 .

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 that supports QoEmeasurements for mobility robustness in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations of method 2200 may be implemented bya base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example,the operations of method 2200 may be performed by a communicationsmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 . In someexamples, a base station may execute a set of instructions to controlthe functional elements of the base station to perform the functionsdescribed below. Additionally or alternatively, a base station mayperform aspects of the functions described below using special-purposehardware.

At 2205, the base station may receive a resource status request from aserving base station of a UE, the resource status request indicating aQoE constraint of the UE and a set of QoE variables of the UE. Theoperations of 2205 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 2205 may beperformed by a resource status manager as described with reference toFIGS. 13 through 16 .

At 2210, the base station may determine, based on the set of QoEvariables, whether the target base station can satisfy the QoEconstraint of the UE. The operations of 2210 may be performed accordingto the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 2210 may be performed by a communication link manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

At 2215, the base station may transmit a resource status response to theserving base station indicating an ability to support the QoE constraintof the UE. The operations of 2215 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of2215 may be performed by a resource status manager as described withreference to FIGS. 13 through 16 .

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a UE, comprising:establishing a communication link between the UE and a serving basestation; measuring, at an application layer of the UE, a set of QoEvariables associated with different service types; measuring, at anaccess stratum of the UE, a set of RRM variables associated with thecommunication link between the UE and the serving base station and acommunication link between the UE and a corresponding set of one or moreneighboring base stations associated with the communication links; andtransmitting a measurement report to the serving base station indicatinginformation associated with the QoE variables and the RRM variables in amulti-layer readable format.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: transferring, fromthe application layer of the UE to the access stratum of the UE, the setof QoE variables in a format readable by the RAN, wherein transmittingthe measurement report comprises; and transmitting, from the accessstratum of the UE, the set of QoE variables and the set of RRM variablesto the serving base station.

Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, further comprising:generating a summary of the set of QoE variables or a generic score ofan overall satisfaction level to obtain a summary QoE report;configuring, at the application layer of the UE, the measurement reportto indicate the summary QoE report and the set of RRM variables in aformat readable by the access stratum of the UE and the serving basestation, wherein transmitting the measurement report comprises; andtransmitting, from the access stratum of the UE, the summary QoE reportand the set of RRM variables to the serving base station in themeasurement report.

Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, further comprising:transmitting a UE capability message indicating support for generating aRAN aware summary QoE report.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising:receiving a measurement request from the base station indicating the QoEvariables to include in the set of QoE variables, wherein identifyingthe set of QoE variables is based at least in part on the measurementrequest, wherein the measurement report is transmitted based at least inpart on the measurement request.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, further comprising:adjusting, in response to the measurement report, the communication linkbetween the UE and the serving base station.

Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein adjusting the communicationlink comprises: performing, based at least in part on the set of QoEvariables, a handover procedure of the UE from the serving base stationto establish a new communication link with a target base station fromthe set of target base stations.

Aspect 8: The method of aspect 7, further comprising: determining thatthe set of QoE variables fail to satisfy a threshold, whereintransmitting the measurement report is based at least in part on thedetermining; and receiving, based at least in part on transmitting themeasurement report, a connection reconfiguration message identifying thetarget base station to perform the handover procedure to establish thenew communication link.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 6 through 8, wherein adjustingthe communication link comprises: adjusting one or more communicationparameters configured for the communication link between the UE and theserving base station and one or more handover parameters for a handoverprocedure of the UE from the serving base station to establish a newcommunication link with a target base station from the set of one ormore target base stations.

Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 through 9, further comprising:identifying at least a portion of the QoE variables, at the accessstratum of the UE, wherein the set of QoE variables indicated in themeasurement report is based at least in part on the portion of the QoEvariables.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, furthercomprising: identifying, at the access stratum of the UE, a summary QoEreport based at least in part on the set of QoE variables, wherein theset of QoE variables indicated in the measurement report comprises thesummary QoE report.

Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, wherein the QoEvariables in the set of QoE variables comprise one or more of a cellidentifier of the serving base station, or a service type for a servicebeing communicated over the communication link, or an averageapplication layer throughput rate, or an average application layerround-trip-time measurement, or an average application layer jitter, oran average application layer packet drop rate, or a failure rate of theapplication layer throughput rate, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer round-trip-time variable, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer jitter, or a failure rate of the application layer packet droprate.

Aspect 13: A method for wireless communication at a serving basestation, comprising: establishing a communication link with a UE;receiving a measurement report from the UE indicating informationassociated with a set of QoE variables and a set of RRM variables in amulti-layer readable format; and adjusting, in response to themeasurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving base station.

Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, further comprising: transmitting ameasurement request to the UE indicating the QoE variables to include inthe set of QoE variables, wherein the measurement report indicating theset of QoE variables is received in response to the measurement request.

Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 13 through 14, wherein adjustingthe communication link comprises: performing, based at least in part onthe set of QoE variables, a handover procedure of the UE from theserving base station to a target base station for the UE to establish anew communication link with the target base station.

Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, further comprising: determining thatthe set of QoE variables fail to satisfy a threshold; transmitting aresource status request to a set of target base stations comprising thetarget base station indicated in the measurement report, the resourcestatus request indicating a QoE constraint of the UE and the set of QoEvariables of the UE; receiving a resource status response from thetarget base station indicating support of the QoE constraint of the UE;and transmitting, based at least in part on the resource statusresponse, a connection reconfiguration message to the UE identifying thetarget base station to perform the handover procedure to establish thenew communication link.

Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, further comprising: receivingmultiple resource status responses from at least a portion of respectivetarget base stations of the set of one or more target base stations,each resource status response indicating a respective ability of thetarget base station in satisfying the UE quality of service constraints;selecting a subset of available target base stations from the portion ofthe respective target base stations of the set of one or more targetbase stations based at least in part on the ability in satisfying theQoE constraint of the UE; and selecting the target base station from thesubset of available base stations based at least in part on the abilityto satisfy the QoE constraints of the target base station and one ormore RRM variables of the UE for the target base station.

Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 16 through 17, furthercomprising: transmitting a handover request to the target base stationbased at least in part on selecting the target base station, thehandover request indicating that the handover procedure of the UE is tobe performed to the target base station; and receiving a handoverresponse from the target base station, wherein the handover procedure ofthe UE is performed with the target base station based at least in parton the handover response.

Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 13 through 18, wherein adjustingthe connection comprises: adjusting one or more communication parametersconfigured for the communication link between the UE and the servingbase station.

Aspect 20: A method for wireless communication at a target base station,comprising: receiving a resource status request from a serving basestation of a UE, the resource status request indicating a QoE constraintof the UE and a set of QoE variables of the UE; determining, based atleast in part on the set of QoE variables, whether the UE QoEconstraints can be satisfied at the target base station; andtransmitting a resource status response to the serving base stationindicating an ability to support the QoE constraint of the UE.

Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, further comprising: determining theability of the target base station in satisfying the UE quality ofservice constraints.

Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 20 through 21, furthercomprising: receiving a handover request from the serving base stationbased at least in part on the resource status response indicatingsupport for the QoE requirement of the UE.

Aspect 23: The method of aspect 22, further comprising: transmitting ahandover response to the serving base station, wherein the handoverprocedure of the UE is performed with the target base station based atleast in part on the handover response.

Aspect 24: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising aprocessor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored inthe memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus toperform a method of any of aspects 1 through 12.

Aspect 25: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprisingat least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through12.

Aspect 26: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructionsexecutable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1through 12.

Aspect 27: An apparatus for wireless communication at a serving basestation, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 13 through 19.

Aspect 28: An apparatus for wireless communication at a serving basestation, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any ofaspects 13 through 19.

Aspect 29: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication at a serving base station, the code comprisinginstructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any ofaspects 13 through 19.

Aspect 30: An apparatus for wireless communication at a target basestation, comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 20 through 23.

Aspect 31: An apparatus for wireless communication at a target basestation, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any ofaspects 20 through 23.

Aspect 32: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication at a target base station, the code comprisinginstructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any ofaspects 20 through 23.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may bedescribed for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRterminology may be used in much of the description, the techniquesdescribed herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRnetworks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable tovarious other wireless communications systems such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, aswell as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentionedherein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connectionwith the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processormay also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, oneor more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any othersuch configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein may be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROMor other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used tocarry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions ordata structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition ofcomputer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD,laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk andBlu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, whilediscs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the aboveare also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or“one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, alist of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “basedon” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions.For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A”may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as usedherein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner asthe phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinaryskill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications tothe disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in theart, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to othervariations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedisclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein,but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: establishing a communication link betweenthe UE and a serving network device; measuring, at an application layerof the UE, a set of quality of experience variables associated withdifferent service types; measuring, at an access stratum of the UE, aset of radio resource management variables associated with thecommunication link between the UE and the serving network device and acommunication link between the UE and a corresponding set of one or moreneighboring network devices associated with the communication links; andtransmitting a measurement report to the serving network deviceindicating information associated with the quality of experiencevariables and the radio resource management variables in a multi-layerreadable format.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transferring, from the application layer of the UE to the access stratumof the UE, the set of quality of experience variables in a formatreadable by an radio access network, wherein transmitting themeasurement report comprises; and transmitting, from the access stratumof the UE, the set of quality of experience variables and the set ofradio resource management variables to the serving network device. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a summary of theset of quality of experience variables or a generic score of an overallsatisfaction level to obtain a summary quality of experience report;configuring, at the application layer of the UE, the measurement reportto indicate the summary quality of experience report and the set ofradio resource management variables in a format readable by the accessstratum of the UE and the serving network device, wherein transmittingthe measurement report comprises; and transmitting, from the accessstratum of the UE, the summary quality of experience report and the setof radio resource management variables to the serving network device inthe measurement report.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting a UE capability message indicating support for generating aradio access network aware summary quality of experience report.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a measurement requestfrom the serving network device indicating the quality of experiencevariables to include in the set of quality of experience variables,wherein identifying the set of quality of experience variables is basedat least in part on the measurement request, wherein the measurementreport is transmitted based at least in part on the measurement request.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: adjusting, in response tothe measurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving network device.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein adjusting thecommunication link comprises: performing, based at least in part on theset of quality of experience variables, a handover procedure of the UEfrom the serving network device to establish a new communication linkwith a target network device from a set of target network devices. 8.The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining that the set ofquality of experience variables fail to satisfy a threshold, whereintransmitting the measurement report is based at least in part on thedetermining; and receiving, based at least in part on transmitting themeasurement report, a connection reconfiguration message identifying thetarget network device to perform the handover procedure to establish thenew communication link.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein adjusting thecommunication link comprises: adjusting one or more communicationparameters configured for the communication link between the UE and theserving network device and one or more handover parameters for ahandover procedure of the UE from the serving network device toestablish a new communication link with a target network device from aset of one or more target network devices.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: identifying at least a portion of the quality ofexperience variables, at the access stratum of the UE, wherein the setof quality of experience variables indicated in the measurement reportis based at least in part on the portion of the quality of experiencevariables.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying,at the access stratum of the UE, a summary quality of experience reportbased at least in part on the set of quality of experience variables,wherein the set of quality of experience variables indicated in themeasurement report comprises the summary quality of experience report.12. The method of claim 1, wherein the quality of experience variablesin the set of quality of experience variables comprise one or more of acell identifier of the serving network device, or a service type for aservice being communicated over the communication link, or an averageapplication layer throughput rate, or an average application layerround-trip-time measurement, or an average application layer jitter, oran average application layer packet drop rate, or a failure rate of theapplication layer throughput rate, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer round-trip-time variable, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer jitter, or a failure rate of the application layer packet droprate.
 13. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment(UE), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memorycoupled with the at least one processor, with instructions stored in theat least one memory, the instructions being executable by the at leastone processor, individually or in any combination, to cause theapparatus to: establish a communication link between the UE and aserving network device; measure, at an application layer of the UE, aset of quality of experience variables associated with different servicetypes; measure, at an access stratum of the UE, a set of radio resourcemanagement variables associated with the communication link between theUE and the serving network device and a communication link between theUE and a corresponding set of one or more neighboring network devicesassociated with the communication links; and transmit a measurementreport to the serving network device indicating information associatedwith the quality of experience variables and the radio resourcemanagement variables in a multi-layer readable format.
 14. The apparatusof claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the atleast processor, individually or in any combination, to cause theapparatus to: transfer, from the application layer of the UE to theaccess stratum of the UE, the set of quality of experience variables ina format readable by an radio access network, wherein transmitting themeasurement report comprises; and transmit, from the access stratum ofthe UE, the set of quality of experience variables and the set of radioresource management variables to the serving network device.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executableby the at least processor, individually or in any combination, to causethe apparatus to: generate a summary of the set of quality of experiencevariables or a generic score of an overall satisfaction level to obtaina summary quality of experience report; configuring, at the applicationlayer of the UE, the measurement report to indicate the summary qualityof experience report and the set of radio resource management variablesin a format readable by the access stratum of the UE and the servingnetwork device, wherein transmitting the measurement report comprises;and transmit, from the access stratum of the UE, the summary quality ofexperience report and the set of radio resource management variables tothe serving network device in the measurement report.
 16. The apparatusof claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the atleast processor, individually or in any combination, to cause theapparatus to: transmit a UE capability message indicating support forgenerating a radio access network aware summary quality of experiencereport.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the at least processor, individually or in anycombination, to cause the apparatus to: receive a measurement requestfrom the serving network device indicating the quality of experiencevariables to include in the set of quality of experience variables,wherein identifying the set of quality of experience variables is basedat least in part on the measurement request, wherein the measurementreport is transmitted based at least in part on the measurement request.18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by the at least processor, individually or in anycombination, to cause the apparatus to: adjust, in response to themeasurement report, the communication link between the UE and theserving network device.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein theinstructions to adjust the communication link are executable by the atleast processor, individually or in any combination, to cause theapparatus to: perform, based at least in part on the set of quality ofexperience variables, a handover procedure of the UE from the servingnetwork device to establish a new communication link with a targetnetwork device from a set of target network devices.
 20. The apparatusof claim 19, wherein the instructions are further executable by the atleast processor, individually or in any combination, to cause theapparatus to: determine that the set of quality of experience variablesfail to satisfy a threshold, wherein transmitting the measurement reportis based at least in part on the determining; and receive, based atleast in part on transmitting the measurement report, a connectionreconfiguration message identifying the target network device to performthe handover procedure to establish the new communication link.
 21. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions to adjust thecommunication link are executable by the at least processor,individually or in any combination, to cause the apparatus to: adjustone or more communication parameters configured for the communicationlink between the UE and the serving network device and one or morehandover parameters for a handover procedure of the UE from the servingnetwork device to establish a new communication link with a targetnetwork device from a set of one or more target network devices.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executableby the at least processor, individually or in any combination, to causethe apparatus to: identify at least a portion of the quality ofexperience variables, at the access stratum of the UE, wherein the setof quality of experience variables indicated in the measurement reportis based at least in part on the portion of the quality of experiencevariables.
 23. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the at least processor, individually or in anycombination, to cause the apparatus to: identify, at the access stratumof the UE, a summary quality of experience report based at least in parton the set of quality of experience variables, wherein the set ofquality of experience variables indicated in the measurement reportcomprises the summary quality of experience report.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein the quality of experience variables in the set ofquality of experience variables comprise one or more of a cellidentifier of the serving network device, or a service type for aservice being communicated over the communication link, or an averageapplication layer throughput rate, or an average application layerround-trip-time measurement, or an average application layer jitter, oran average application layer packet drop rate, or a failure rate of theapplication layer throughput rate, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer round-trip-time variable, or a failure rate of the applicationlayer jitter, or a failure rate of the application layer packet droprate.